October 1, 2008

AUGUSTA, Ga.---The parents of a one-and-a-half-month-old baby boy who died in January are now in jail.

Matthew Reynolds of Warrenton and Frances Nicole Howard, of Augusta, are charged with murder.

Richmond County deputies have been investigating the case since it happened. The charges were just filed this week.

Crime team 12's Lynnsey Gardner found out with why this took so long.

The answer is red tape. The coroner's office says they've believed all along the infant's death was suspicious, but investigators say they had to wait for the official report which took months.

"The injuries were not consistent with any accident that we could account for. The parents couldn't explain it at the hospital." explains Coroner Grover Tuten of the suspicion surrounding Damien Lee Howard's death.

Part of those injuries were bruises to Damien's head, and some on his face too.

But Nicole's family says she's innocent. As proof they shared pictures with News 12 . In them, you can see the baby did have bruising on his face since birth, but Tuten says that's not all. "There is a little piece of tissue that connects the top of the lip to the top of the gum line."

It's called the frenulum and Tuten says little Damien's was torn when he died. "I've only seen that once or twice in 30 some odd years...Usually you only see that hen someone is forcibly holding the lip open. "

Tuten says that injury alone suggest the baby was suffocated. The medical examiner, Dr. Dan Brown, ruled the infant's cause of death as homicidal asphyxia which indicates the baby was suffocated.

It's a cause of death the family cannot accept..and one his mother and father must answer to -- in court.

Damien also had fluid in his ears which Tuten says may indicate a skull fracture or an internal head injury. The family says he had ear problems since birth.

Official autopsy results have not been released but the sheriff's office says it's findings is what led them to charge the parents with murder.