Las Vegas baby boy dies, mother’s boyfriend charged with murder

A baby boy hospitalized with injuries consistent with abuse in September died two days later, and now his mother’s boyfriend is charged with murder, the Las Vegas Review-Journal has learned.

On the afternoon of Sept. 3, inside a residence near Swenson Street and Desert Inn Road, a 10-month-old boy stopped breathing. His mother was at work at the time, leaving the baby and his two older siblings under the sole care of her 25-year-old boyfriend, Lafayette Lacy, police said.

The infant boy was taken to University Medical Center, where he spent roughly two days in the intensive care unit. Tests done at the hospital showed signs of abuse, indicating that the boy had suffered from more than one brain bleed, police said.

Lacy was originally arrested and charged with two counts of child abuse resulting in substantial bodily harm. In the boy’s medical charts, according to Lacy’s arrest report, one of the baby’s doctors wrote, “Prognosis for recovery is poor.”

The boy died from his injuries at the hospital on Sept. 5, according to the Clark County coroner’s office, and Lacy’s charges have since been upgraded to first-degree murder. The boy’s death marked the 125th homicide investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department this year, Review-Journal records show.

The baby’s official cause and manner of death had not yet been determined as of Friday, the coroner’s office said.

During an interview with detectives after the baby was hospitalized, Lacy attempted to pass blame onto the boy’s older brother, who, at times, he said, could be rough with his baby brother.

But a doctor told police she did not believe that the infant’s brother, a 3-foot-8 boy who weighs 45 pounds, “was capable of inflicting serious injuries to his baby brother,” detectives wrote in their report.

In the same interview, Lacy would eventually admit to shaking the baby the morning the boy stopped breathing.

He told police that he picked the boy up after he “began to crawl and act strangely,” the report said. “Lacy stated he then held the baby away from him and shook him in response.”

The baby became unresponsive shortly thereafter, and instead of calling 911, Lacy texted the boy’s mother to call for help, police said.

The morning before the baby’s death, Lacy also sent a text message to one of the juvenile detectives handling the investigation.

According to the arrest warrant, the message, in part, said, “From everything I’ve been told I know I caused this. I don’t know what’s going on but I know I reacted wrong. I did nothing right.”

Police said the text was unsolicited.

A Clark County Department of Family services report shows that the baby’s family has a history with Child Protective Services.

His family was investigated once in September 2017 and again in October 2017 after the department received reports alleging neglect. Both allegations were found unsubstantiated, the report shows.

The baby’s two older siblings also were examined at University Medical Center, but doctors did not find any significant injuries, police said.

Lacy is being held on $50,000 bail at the Clark County Detention Center. His preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 8 in Las Vegas Justice Court, records show.

Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.