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Father Charged in Infant's Death

By Erin Meyer | December 6, 2013 6:09pm
 Arthur Carpenter, 22, is charged in the murder of his 28-day-old son, who died Nov. 11.
Arthur Carpenter, 22, is charged in the murder of his 28-day-old son, who died Nov. 11.
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Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURT — The father of a 28-day-old boy was charged with murder after a cut inside the child's throat resulted in blood poisoning and death.

Arthur Carpenter, 22, was left alone with his son on the morning of Oct. 31 when the boy's mother went to school, Assistant State's Attorney Maura White said at a Friday court hearing.

When the mother returned to her home in the 100 block of East 111th Street around 11 a.m., Carpenter told her that the infant had been "fussy and crying," White said.

Both parents were trying to get the child to stop crying when the mother saw him spit up blood, White said. She noticed bruises on the child's face and decided to take him to the hospital.

Doctors at Comer Children's Hospital later determined that the baby, identified as Jahki Carpenter by the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office, had suffered an esophageal tear.

"This is consistent with an adult finger being the mechanism of injury," White said.

The child's facial bruises also appeared to be the result of child abuse, prosecutors said.

Jahki died at the hospital on Nov. 11 of septic shock when bacteria infected the esophageal cut.

A Cook County judge ordered Carpenter held in lieu of $500,000 bail Friday.