A Juneau man has been charged with second-degree murder after a 1-month-old infant in his care died from a head injury earlier this year.
Police arrested 44-year-old James White on Friday. He was already at Lemon Creek Correctional Center after being arrested for an alleged domestic violence assault a day prior.
According to the Juneau Police Department, emergency responders were called to a hotel in Juneau in April after receiving a report that an infant wasn’t breathing.
After the baby girl arrived at Bartlett Regional Hospital, she was pronounced dead due to “significant physical injuries to the head.” An autopsy showed blunt force injury of the skull as the cause of death.
White was the infant’s caregiver at the time and was in the hotel room with her and three other children. According to charging documents, police said he smelled of alcohol. He denied any wrongdoing at the time and was not arrested.
According to an investigation by police, White believed the infant was not his biological child and was upset about taking care of her. He was in a relationship with the infant’s mother who was working at the time of the incident. During an interview with White last week, police say they confronted him about his role in the infant’s death and that he admitted it was not premeditated.
Deputy Police Chief Krag Campbell said in an email Monday that White’s arrest seven months after the baby’s death comes after “an extensive amount of interviews, evidence collection, and planning to develop a solid case that meets probable cause requirements.”
White made his first appearance for the murder charge at the Juneau courthouse on Friday. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 25.
