ST. LOUIS (AP) - A St. Louis man has been sentenced to life in prison, plus another 10 years, for smothering his infant son three years ago.
Jibri Baker, 26, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to second-degree murder and assault in the death of 3-month-old Ayden Baker in April 2017, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
Police have said Baker admitted to detectives that he first tried to kill Ayden by pushing the infant’s head into a bed. The baby stopped moving after several minutes, and Baker turned him over, believing he was dead. But the infant took a breath, and Baker then held the infant’s nostrils and mouth closed until he died, prosecutors said.
Baker’s girlfriend at the time of the baby’s death, 30-year-old Emily Paul, of Columbia, is charged with first-degree murder in the case. Prosecutors say she persuaded Baker to kill to kill the baby, pointing to text messages between the two indicating Paul “aided and encouraged the suffocation death” of Ayden.
Paul’s trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 10.
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