Yucca Valley man faces murder charges for child’s death
Arthur Thomas Davies will face murder charges in the death of a 1-year-old Toddler at a Yucca Valley residence on Feb. 10. The toddler was pronounced deceased at Loma Linda University Medical Center at 10:44 p.m. on Feb. 12.
The alleged murder took place at a residence on the 555000 block of Twentynine Palms Highway in Yucca Valley.
Karissa Caccavarie, the toddler’s mother, told friends and family that she was in the laundry room and had left the toddler in Davies’ care. The laundry room was just steps away from her home and she was only gone for a few minutes.
“It’s chilling. The first time I had seen him at the hospital was a couple of days ago. He was really cold. It felt like I was touching… you know what I mean? He was already gone,” said Sarah Brown, a close friend of the Karissa Caccavarie, the toddler’s mother.
Brown describes single mother Caccavarie as an adopted sister. She told KESQ / CBS Local 2’s Katie Widner that she watched Caccavarie’s son almost every morning.
“He was amazing. Full of energy. Smiled and had this eye twitch. He was just a perfect little baby all the way around. He just started talking a little more recently,” Brown recalled.
The toddler’s brain stem was severed, according to Brown. The toddler was initially taken to Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree after the incident and was later flown to Loma Linda Universiy Medical Center.
“It’s gruesome. Just on oxygen tubes.He had to go through brain surgery. He’s hooked up to every single thing you can imagine. He’s just laying there, hopefully not in any pain,” Brown said.
Loma Linda staff determined the injuries were suspicious which led to the investigation.
Detectives determined that Davies, the child’s mother’s boyfriend, was responsible for the injuries. Davies is not the boy’s biological father.
Brown said the relationship between Caccavarie and Davies was new.
“It was something new and something fresh that just kind of kept to herself,” Brown said.
The District Attorney’s Office filed Murder and Assault Resulting in the Death of Child charges against Davies this morning. Davies is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.
Davies’ brother sent a statement to KESQ / CBS Local 2 regarding the incident:
We were close with Parker and spent many nights and the holidays as they stayed with us before they moved into the trailer, and are devastated with the loss of Parker. This has been very emotional for us.
A GoFundMe page has been created in support of the victim’s family. If you would like to donate, you can click here.
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