Babysitter faces murder charges after 5-month-old dies

A babysitter faces a murder charge in addition to charges of child abuse after the 5-month-old child left in his care died Saturday.

Anthony Casey, 31, was arrested Thursday in connection with the abuse of Kaiden Blane Chamberlain, a baby he was watching while Chamberlain’s mother was at work.

When the mother left to work Thursday, the baby was “awake, alert and happy,” according to Casey’s arrest report.

Kaiden was taken to the hospital the previous week because the top of his head was bulging. A CT scan did not show any trauma and he was taken home, according to the report.

Casey had been watching Kaiden regularly since the child’s mother began working Aug. 8, and though he had previously dated the child’s mother, they were only roommates at the time of his arrest.

Early Thursday afternoon, Casey contacted Kaiden’s mother via Facebook to suggest she come home because Kaiden was acting weird and Casey might have bruised the baby’s face when Kaiden went limp.

Kaiden’s mother told him to call 911.

Paramedics arrived at the house in the 5600 block of Souvenir Lane, near Lindell Road and Hacienda Avenue, and took Kaiden to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center.

Casey picked up Kaiden’s 6-year-old half-sister after school, leaving the baby asleep at home. When they arrived home, Kaiden was crying, according to the report.

The sister stayed downstairs while Casey went upstairs with Kaiden. When he brought the baby back downstairs, Casey told the sister that something was wrong with Kaiden, according to the report

She described her brother as “looking like he was sick and like he was going to die,” when police interviewed her, according to the arrest report.

Casey did not go to the hospital, and told the mother that he would not answer the door. He asked her to give police a fake name for him, the report stated.

The 6-year-old child stayed home with Casey.

Casey, who has a violent criminal record, including obstructing a police officer with a deadly weapon, did not respond when detectives came to the house.

A SWAT unit went to the house, issued a search warrant and attempted to make contact multiple times using a bullhorn. He surrendered after SWAT used flash-bang grenades, according to the report.

Casey admitted to police that he was watching Kaiden, and that he was his “happy-go-lucky self,” according to the report.

Kaiden spent about nine hours in his swing. Casey took him out twice to change him, but otherwise left him alone because he did not want to foster an attachment between himself and the boy because he has three other children, the report stated.

He denied Kaiden was hurt in his care and had no explanation for his injuries.

Kaiden suffered bruising, puncture marks, bulging on top of his head and old rib fractures, according to police. Doctors determined that Chamberlain had suffered abuse and abusive head trauma, also known as Shaken Baby Syndrome.