2-month-old girl killed in smothering case identified

A baby girl police said died after she was smothered by her father has been identified.

She was 2-month-old Cleo Opal Annette Ballew of Las Vegas, the Clark County coroner’s office said. Her cause and manner of death were pending Wednesday.

Her father, Cash Diego Seville Ballew, 26, faces a murder charge and is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center.

A couple reported their baby was having a medical crisis about 4:20 a.m. at a motel at 117 N. 9th St., police said. The baby, Cleo, died at Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

About 40 minutes after police were first called, a related abuse call was generated for the same address, police said.

Ballew smothered Cleo to get her to stop crying, police said. The Metropolitan Police Department’s abuse and neglect team has taken over the investigation.

Cleo’s death marked the 23rd homicide investigated by Metro this year, Las Vegas Review-Journal records show.

Ballew is registered as a sex offender after a 2007 conviction for aggravated criminal sex abuse against a family member in Peoria County, Illinois, public records show.

Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter.