Auburn teen arrested for son's death

AUBURN, Ind. (WANE) - An Auburn teen is behind bars in connection with the death of his infant son.

Gabriel Taylor, 19, was arrested Tuesday afternoon and charged with battery causing death, a Class A felony. He is in the DeKalb County Jail and held without bond.

According to court documents, Taylor's son, Lucas, who was less than two months old, had been transferred from DeKalb Memorial Hospital to Lutheran Hospital on March 2 and was unresponsive.

Taylor said that while he was feeding the infant early that morning, the baby suddenly went limp and its eyes closed, according to the affidavit. Taylor said he and the child's mother then took the baby to the hospital.

The baby's health declined throughout the day and he died around 11:00 p.m. at Lutheran Hospital.

Taylor had told investigators that his son had fallen out of a swing that was less than a foot off the ground when he was about 12 days old and was found to be fine after a doctor's examination.

An autopsy indicated the cause of death was abusive head injury, which the examining doctor said could not have been caused accidentally.

The examining doctor said it was clear that blood under the infant's skull came from blunt-force trauma and that it was a recent bleed, not days or weeks old, according to the affidavit. Police said Taylor had told them he was the only person with the baby at the time his son went limp and stopped breathing.

A special judge from Steuben County is presiding over this case because Taylor is the relative of a DeKalb County judge.