10-month-old Pittsburgh boy dies after being abused by parent's boyfriend, police say

A 10-month-old boy died after a man said he became “aggressive” with the child because he was frustrated that the child would not stop crying, according to Pittsburgh police.

Pittsburgh police on Sunday charged Dominic Pinnick, 18, of Homewood with attempted homicide and other charges.

The baby was taken to the hospital, where he died.

Pittsburgh police announced the death Monday morning on social media.

Public safety officials said charges are expected to be upgraded to homicide.

The baby’s name and official cause of death will be released by the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office, city officials said.

In a criminal complaint against Pinnnick, police said officers went to Pinnick’s home in the 7000 block of Kedron Street around 4:18 p.m. Friday for a report of an infant falling from a bed. Pinnick made the call to 911, but left before police arrived.

A firefighter told officers that the child’s injuries were suspicious, the complaint states.

Pinnick is not the child’s father but has been dating one of the child’s parents for about seven months, the complaint states. Police did not directly state the parent’s gender in the complaint.

The parent left the boy in Pinnick’s care after leaving to see family and get food. Before leaving, the parent placed pillows around the boy, who was acting normally, so he could not get off a bed, according to the complaint.

The parent said Pinnick called and said he was standing outside with others when he heard a loud thud followed by the child crying.

The parent asked Pinnick to come to the hospital, but he did not show up, the complaint states.

The child was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital in critical condition. A social worker told officers that upon arrival, the child was unresponsive, not breathing on his own and was having multiple seizures, the complaint states. He was immediately rushed into surgery.

A doctor told detectives that the injuries to the child’s head caused a brain bleed and swelling to his brain, according to the complaint. The surgeon who operated on the child told the family that he had to remove part of the child’s skull, after which he was placed in the pediatric intensive care unit.

On Saturday, another doctor at UPMC Children’s Hospital told police that the boy’s injuries were not consistent with a fall, but were consistent with abusive head trauma and violence, according to the complaint.

The doctor said the child suffered one large skull fracture that is consistent with multiple impacts to the head; numerous retinal hemorrhages consistent with violent shaking; multiple impact strikes to his chest and a possible fracture to an arm; and subdural hematomas, the complaint says.

The child has no signs of brain activity, the complaint states.

Pinnick agreed to speak with police on Saturday. After hearing the child crying, Pinnick said, he went upstairs to console him and found him on the floor beside the bed. No matter what he did, Pinnick said, the boy would not stop crying.

Frustrated that the boy would not stop crying, Pinnick said he walked around the room and hit the child’s head three or four times on the wooden canopy bed posts in the bedroom, the complaint states. He said he “aggressively” placed the child on the bed, “aggressively” rocked him, and that he grabbed the child and “aggressively” rubbed the back of his head.

Pinnick said that while he rocked the boy, he held him firmly against his chest, and said he could feel the back of his head was “soft and malleable.”

Once noticing that the boy was staring into space and his body was limp, Pinnick said he then ran downstairs, asked for help and used someone’s phone to call 911, the complaint states.

Pinnick did not have an attorney listed in court records.

In addition to attempted homicide, Pinnick is currently charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, and recklessly endangering another person.

Pinnick was denied bail on the basis of being a flight risk when he was arraigned Sunday and sent to the Allegheny County Jail, according to court records. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 1.