Las Vegas woman sues after being accused of killing her baby

A woman previously accused of killing her baby in a case that was dropped by prosecutors filed a lawsuit Tuesday, alleging fabrication of evidence and malicious prosecution.

Kristina Kerlus faced felony charges of murder and child abuse, neglect or endangerment resulting in substantial bodily harm in connection with the death of her son, 2-month-old Jocai Davis.

She was arrested in 2019, but prosecutors dismissed both counts in December 2022 after they said an investigation showed they could not prove the charges.

Clark County, the city of Las Vegas and the pathologist and detective who investigated the death are named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Spokespeople for the city and county declined to comment given that the case is pending. The Metropolitan Police Department also declined to comment. Jennifer Corneal, the pathologist named in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“The individual Defendants acted to frame Plaintiff for murder and child abuse by fabricating evidence of a crime relating to the natural death of her son,” attorneys Cory and Theresa Santos and Wolfgang Mueller alleged in a complaint filed on Kerlus’ behalf.

The lawsuit said Kerlus was deprived “of liberty by being wrongfully seized, jailed, and restricted from freedom of movement for a period of over three years” and that the defendants’ actions led her to lose custody of her other children.

Kerlus’ son died in October 2018 at University Medical Center, the lawsuit said. Paramedics had initially transported him to Summerlin Hospital, according to the complaint, and doctors there notified Metro and child protective services because they were concerned he showed signs of shaken baby syndrome.

Corneal was assigned to perform Davis’ autopsy and, “in a classic example of Confirmation Bias,” concluded that he showed signs of shaken baby syndrome or “Abusive Head Trauma” even though evidence indicated his death was caused by sickle cell trait, the lawsuit said.

The complaint alleged Corneal “fabricated a cause of death as ‘blunt force head and neck trauma.’” Corneal ruled the death a homicide, according to the suit.

A pathologist who reviewed Corneal’s findings at the request of Kerlus’ defense attorney found that the death was natural and caused by sickle cell trait complications, not head and neck trauma, the complaint said. Another doctor classified the cause and manner of death as undetermined, according to the lawsuit.

Metro Detective A. Santos, whose first name is not included in the filing, knew Davis had been diagnosed with sickle cell trait, the complaint claimed.

The lawsuit alleged that she wrote “false statements in her report” anyway, including: “It has been determined that the mother, Kristina Kerlus, was responsible for the injuries that led to the death of her child.”

Kerlus had been at work when the baby started showing signs of distress, but Santos “arbitrarily” decided to seek Kerlus’ arrest instead of the arrest of the baby’s father, who was with him at the time, the suit alleged.

Contact Noble Brigham at nbrigham@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BrighamNoble on X.