NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) — A man has been arrested in connection with the death of his 4-month-old son, Newport News Police said Wednesday morning.
Aaron Howard-Westbrook, 21, has been charged with second-degree murder, abuse and neglect causing serious injury and two counts of malicious wounding.
A release states that on Oct. 6, 2023, Child Protective Services contacted NNPD in reference to an infant who was transported to a local hospital with “undetermined injuries.” The child died from his injuries Nov. 1.
According to court documents, the child was taken in early October to Riverside Hospital initially, and then transported to CHKD. He had been fussy and inconsolable for the second time in about two weeks.
Police say by mid-October, Howard-Westbrook called and stated that “everything was my fault because if I wasn’t frustrated, this would never be happening.”
Police said Howard-Westbrook told them he may have “rocked” the four-month-old too hard when he was crying.
CHKD doctors examined the boy, and found a brain injury and hemorrhages to the skull and eyes. Lab results showed concern for abusive head trauma.
Dr. Bavan Singh examined the child, and said in his report the brain hemorrhages were the subject of “forces that were severe and far in excess of normal parenting.” He concluded that the injuries to the little boy were irreversible and that he would never have recovered.
A post on Howard-Westbrook’s social media from January, two months after his son died, states that “when you lose your path, you must be able to take your pain. Without pain there would be no suffering, without suffering we would never learn from our mistakes.”
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the 4-month-old’s death a homicide, the result of blunt force trauma to the head.
The next court date for Howard-Westbrook on the second-degree murder, child abuse and malicious wounding charges is Aug. 1.
Police said Howard-Westbrook Sr. was taken into custody May 3. A police spokeswoman told WAVY the information was released as soon as the department had all the information relating to the case.