Teen Mother Charged With First-Degree Murder In Child's Death

Newson6.com

TULSA, OK -- 18-year-old Dominique Lagail Lee was charged with the First-Degree Murder of her seven-week-old baby boy on December 31st.

Lee is already in custody due to a prior robbery arrest and has an initial court date of January 5th. Judge Kurt Glassco has been assigned to the case.

Officers with the Tulsa Police Department started their investigation into the death of Kai'den Terry on September 27th.  Officers responded to the 6900 block of South Trenton Avenue where the child was found unresponsive and pronounced dead.

Lee told detectives she did not know what happened to her baby. A story detectives have heard from Lee before.

According to police, in 2007, another one of Lee's children, a 6-week-old boy, Amontre Ray, was found dead. Lee Told police in that case she had left the room and returned to find the baby unresponsive. 

Police say Kai'den had minor bruising on his lower legs near his ankles, but otherwise did not have any obvious external injuries to suggest a cause of death.

An autopsy by the Medical Examiner revealed a bruise on the left side of the baby's head with two subdural hemorrhages, according to Tulsa Police.

Child Crisis Detectives then interviewed Dominique Lee again on December 8th, while she was in custody on unrelated robbery charges.

12/7/2009  Related Story: Tulsa Police Arrest Two Robbery Suspects With Help From Victim

Police say that's when Lee admitted that on the night of Kai'den's death, she was upset due to a lengthy text message argument with Kai'den's biological father.  Police say Dominique admitted that she grabbed Kai'den by the ankles, pulled him off the end of the bed and threw him head first onto the floor.  Lee told detectives that Kai'den then stopped breathing.

According to police, Kai'den Terry's death is classified as Tulsa's 67th homicide of the year.