Wednesday, July 6, 2005 | 11:09 a.m.
Overwhelmed with her babysitting responsibilities, a 17-year-old girl allegedly beat a 6-week-old boy to death at a home near Tropicana Avenue and Spencer Street, Metro Police said.
Jasmine Hardy is accused of attacking Caleob Hudson last week, shaking him, stomping on him and hitting his head on a wooden dresser, according to police documents.
"It's very scary when a child so young has such severe trauma," Susan Klein-Rothschild, director of Clark County Family Services said.
Police were called to a townhome in the 4900 block of Newport Cove Drive at 10:23 a.m. on June 28 and found the baby with life-threatening injuries. He died several hours later, and the Clark County coroner's office listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma.
Hardy was in charge of babysitting Caelob, his 6-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister while the childrens' mother, Hardy's sister through adoption, was at work.
At first Hardy told detectives that she dropped the baby accidentally, but doctors at Sunrise Hospital told police the infant had suffered skull fractures on the left and right sides of his head and bleeding of the brain, and the injuries were not accidental, police said.
Hardy said Caleob was in his swing in the bedroom and began to cry. He continued to cry and squirm as she changed his diaper and held him, police said.
Caleob's sister walked up behind her and screamed, Hardy told police, causing her to drop Caleob onto the carpeted floor, the police report says.
She said she picked him up and noticed his face was injured and he was gasping. She called Caleob's mother and another relative and imitated CPR techniques she had seen on television, then called 911, police said.
Later in the police interview, after a detective urged her to be honest, Hardy admitted that babysitting was very stressful and she "felt like she couldn't handle it all," the arrest report says.
Hardy started to weep and explained she was angry at Caleob for his incessant crying and at the other two children for being so loud, so she threw the baby against a four-drawer wooden dresser.
She then stomped on the left side of his head with her foot, police said. She was wearing tennis shoes at the time.
The criminal complaint says the baby also suffered injuries consistent with shaking.
"Jasmine stated that she was very sorry but she lied because she was scared and that she knew (her family) would yell at her if they knew the truth," the police report says.
Hardy also said that "sometimes she gets so mad that she wants to 'yank someone by the neck and hurt them' but that she knows she cannot do that or she will get in trouble," according to the report.
"She also stated that she wanted me (police) to take her somewhere so she can rest and 'take a time out,"' and that she believes she needs counseling to help her with her anger.
Police arrested Hardy that afternoon and she was formally charged with murder Tuesday.
In Nevada children 8 and older who are charged with murder, attempted murder and some sexual assaults are automatically tried in the adult system. But in some instances, such a case can be sent to juvenile court if the charges are amended.
Caleob's siblings were not harmed, police said.
His brother told police that he was afraid of Hardy because she had thrown him on the ground, pinched him and bit him then bought him ice cream and candy so he wouldn't tell anyone, police said.
Hardy "has some of her own special needs," and may be handicapped, Klein-Rothschild said, adding that state law prohibited her from releasing specifics.
"I don't want a judgment to be made," she said. "When something like this happens there could be other factors at play."
Hardy's adoptive mother told police that Hardy suffered brain damage in a fall when she was 2, according to the police report. Her mother said Hardy had seizures after that and reads and writes at a second-grade level, but she wasn't able to provide any documentation of a medical diagnosis, police said.
Hardy recently graduated from Valley High School, police noted in the arrest report, and she told police she couldn't remember the last time she had a seizure.
Family services had previously investigated whether Hardy had been abused or neglected, but the allegation could not be substantiated, Klein-Rothschild said.
Part of the family services investigation will be focused on whether Hardy was a suitable babysitter and whether Caleob's siblings are safe in their home, Klein-Rothschild said.
Caleob's death marks the fourth time this year a child has died allegedly at the hands of a caregiver in Clark County.
The most recent incident was last month when police said Jose Luis Rubio, 23, kicked his girlfriend's 3-year-old son in the stomach with such force that his pancreas was lacerated, causing massive internal bleeding, police said.
Rubio told police he found the boy, Joseph Rivera, on the floor of the bathroom moaning in pain. He described how he tried to revive the boy -- he said he offered him toys, lifted him up and down several times, splashed water on his face, performed CPR and propped him up against the wall. Nothing worked.
He called his girlfriend at work and said he thought the boy was sick. She told him to bring him to Mandalay Bay, where she works, police said. It took 30 minutes for him to get there and when he arrived, Joseph's lips were purple and his limbs were stiff.
Rubio was arrested for murder by child abuse.
John Schutts, 30, of Henderson, was arrested in March for allegedly shaking his 4-month-old son, inflicting severe brain injuries that killed him 11 days later. He pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder and was sentenced last month to 10 to 25 years in prison.
In March, Metro Police arrested 26-year-old Osvaldo Lopez for shaking his girlfriend's 2-year-old daughter to death while the girl's mother was at work. He has pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.
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