California Couple Beat Own 5-Week-Old Baby to Death, Charged With Murder

A California couple was arrested and charged with murder for allegedly beating their five-week-old son to death, according to authorities.

Contra Costa County prosecutors on Tuesday charged Ray Ray Darn, 35, and Marilyn Northington, 28, with murder, felony child abuse, and felony child assault after the infant died last week, WPXI News reported.

Richmond police said officers responded to a Feb. 4 call from a Marriott Courtyard Hotel employee. The employee said two guests were rushing out of the hotel to take a baby to a nearby hospital because he had stopped breathing.

Authorities said the emergency room doctors pronounced the infant dead upon arrival at the hospital. The Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office said the baby appeared to have burn wounds and seemed malnourished.

Examiners also noted that the child had several injuries, including facial scars, a broken femur, bruises on his thigh, burns on his nose, cheek, and lower body. The five-week-old baby also had fractured ribs and skull. The child was also malnourished and dehydrated, the autopsy report revealed.

"A circular mark was present on the baby's leg where the burn injury occurred," the District Attorney's Office said in a release, according to a People report.

Richmond Police Sgt. Aaron Pomeroy said in a press release that the baby had apparent signs of abuse.

The Richmond Police Department went to the hotel where the couple was staying, armed with a search warrant. In there, they said they found drug paraphernalia, a meth pipe, and two butane lighters.

The parents are both being held on a $2.2 million bail each. They have yet to enter a plea. However, it is unclear whether they have retained lawyers who can speak on their behalf.

Their two other children are now in the care of Child Protective Services. The Marriott Courtyard, where the family had been staying, is being used to house homeless people amid the pandemic.

Darn's Facebook page showed that he had been employed as a line cook at a fast-food restaurant. His girlfriend has worked as a security guard, according to a Daily Mail report.

California State Law

Under the state of California's law, the couple can be held without charges for three business days from the time of their arrest, which would be around noon Wednesday, according to a Mercury News report.

Both Darn and Northington were interviewed before their arrests, according to police. Officials are also asking anyone who may have any information related to this incident to contact Homicide Detective Brian Hoffman at (510) 621-1755 or email him at bhoffman@richmondpd.net. They can also contact Richmond's anonymous tip line at (510) 307-T1PS (8177).

Child Abuse in the U.S.

Child abuse reports in the U.S. involved 7.8 million children, with 91.7 percent of victims being maltreated by one or both parents, according to an American SPCC report.

The report noted that only 3.3 million of these children received prevention and post-response services. It added that the highest rate of child abuse in children is those under age one.