DATE: Thursday, July 3, 1997                TAG: 9707030659

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: STAFF REPORT 

DATELINE: CHESAPEAKE                        LENGTH:   24 lines

CHESAPEAKE MAN IS CHARGED WITH MURDER IN DEATH OF 18-MONTH-OLD

Police on Wednesday charged Sean Christopher Baker with first-degree murder in connection with the death of 18-month-old Casey Marie Smith.

Baker, 26, was arrested Sunday and charged with felony child abuse after the baby was taken to a hospital, where she died Monday.

Police said the baby's mother, who was living with Baker in a mobile home in the 4500 block of Bainbridge Boulevard, called paramedics at 12:30 a.m. Sunday. She told paramedics that her daughter had fallen down stairs and was unconscious, police said.

But doctors told police that the girl suffered from blunt trauma to the head. Police said Baker allegedly head-butted the baby, knocking her unconscious, then threw her down a small set of stairs in front of the mobile home.

Police did not release the mother's name or say whether Baker was the baby's father. KEYWORDS: MURDER ARREST CHILD ABUSE

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