SAN LEANDRO — A man suspected of causing a life-threatening head injury to his girlfriend’s 6-year-old son two weeks ago, has been charged with two felonies, authorities said Tuesday.
Johnathan Davis, 23, was arrested Thursday by San Leandro Police detectives, eight days after the boy suffered the injury while Davis was caring for him.
He was charged Monday with assault on a child causing a brain injury and child abuse. He is being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail pending a plea hearing Dec. 14.
Authorities said both Davis and the boy’s mother at first cooperated with investigators but later stopped talking to them.
Police said the incident occurred Nov. 21. Davis and his girlfriend, the boy’s mother, brought the unconscious child to the San Leandro Kaiser Hospital. Doctors there immediately began life-saving measures and discovered that the boy was suffering from a traumatic head injury.
Soon after arriving at Kaiser Hospital, the boy was rushed by ambulance to Children’s Hospital in Oakland where he underwent emergency brain surgery. The child remains unconscious and in critical condition at this time, police said.
Davis, who was caring for the child while his mother was at work, initially told police the boy fell down a flight of stairs. However, the injury and symptoms were not consistent with a fall according to medical professionals, police said.
Davis and his girlfriend have been dating and living together for approximately six months, police said. There are two children living with them in the home, the boy and Davis’ 15-month-old daughter from a previous relationship. The boy’s mother works on the Peninsula and the kids are routinely left in the care of Davis, police said.
San Leandro police were called to the hospital to investigate the head injury to the boy. Detectives contacted both Davis and the mother who at the time were cooperative. Both subjects came to the police department to be interviewed, police said.
Police said Davis continued to claim the child fell down a set of stairs while at home and bumped his head. Davis stated that the boy was fine afterward and only complained of “not feeling well” five to six hours later. Davis stated that he and the two children later drove to pick up the boy’s mother from work. Upon arriving home, the boy was found unconscious in the back seat of their car, police said.
During the course of the investigation, detectives learned of previous incidents where the boy may have sustained physical and mental abuse from Davis as recently as October, police said. Medical reports from doctors at both hospitals documented the head injury as “non-accidental” and could not have occurred from the events stated by Davis, police said.
Police said the boy’s mother supports Davis’ statement.
Detectives made several attempts to re-interview both Davis and the boy’s mother. But they both continued to make the same statement and at this point have become uncooperative with the investigation, police said.
Based on what was developed in the investigation and the medical opinions of doctors, an arrest warrant was obtained for Davis, police said.
San Leandro Lt. Isaac Benabou said: “This was a difficult case for our detectives and everyone involved in caring for the little boy. There is definitely more to this story than we know at this time, but for now we have a helpless child clinging to life and neither parental figure can give us a straight answer as to what happened.”
Two days after the incident, Child Protective Services placed both children in protective custody, police said.
San Leandro police are asking anyone who may have information helpful to this case to please contacted detectives at 510-577-3241.