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Last updated on Monday, April 10, 2017
(VINCENNES) - Knox County Coroner Brian Hagen says a five-year-old Vincennes boy died Thursday at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis after emergency responders found him unresponsive in his home Tuesday morning.
The boy's father, 53-year-old James Baldwin, was arrested for attempted murder and will now face charges of murder, strangulation and domestic battery on a person less than 14 against Baldwin. He is being held without bond in the Knox County Jail.
Vincennes Police Chief Dusty Luking says the child had been smothered and strangled in his home in the 1320 block of Bayou Street.
The Knox County Prosecutor Dirk Carnahan, has announced that he plans to pursue a life sentence for Baldwin.
The affidavit was released by court officials on Friday morning. The document claims Robert Baldwin told a Vincennes police officer that he had killed his son and led them to the bedroom where they could find the child. When police arrived, investigators wrote, the boy's "face was blue and he had no pulse."
After his arrest, Baldwin again admitted to killing his son, according to the affidavit, and then detailed his actions. During a police interview, Baldwin reportedly said that he was planning his son's killing, and tried to do it on Tuesday because none of his other children were home at the time. Police wrote that Baldwin first tried to smother him with a pillow, and when that was not successful, he choked the 5-year-old using a USB cord. Baldwin reportedly told investigators that he then sat on the boy until he stopped breathing.
There is no mention in the affidavit that Robert Baldwin told police why he wanted to kill his son.
The boy's three other siblings, ages 3 to 12, who lived at the Baldwin home, are currently in foster care, according.
"He is not remorseful for what he did. That's my opinion, but this man is a monster," Chief Luking says. "At this point there's no reason to believe anything happened other than he intentionally planned out and killed his son."
Officers were called to the home after receiving a call from Baldwin who reported, "I killed my son."
Officials found the boy unresponsive when they arrived. Resuscitation efforts were started as soon as possible and the child was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital and then airlifted to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis where he died on Thursday
A Celebration of Gabriel's Life will be held at 1:30 pm Wednesday at Goodwin Funeral Home. Visitation will be from 11:30 am until the service on Wednesday. Memorial contributions may be made to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at www.cff.org Online condolences may be made at www.goodwinfamilyfh.com
Two online GoFundMe campaigns have also been started to collect donations for the family.
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