ODESSA, Texas — UPDATE: Kameron Gammage's charge has now been upgraded to capital murder, according to OPD.
Bond for the original charge was set at $200,000. The new charge does not have a bond yet.
Jail records also show Gammage has a charge for sexual assault of a child out of Andrews County. The bond for this charge is $150,000. No further info on that charge is available.
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(Warning: This story contains graphic details of child and pet injury. Reader discretion is advised.)
Two parents have been arrested for injury to a child after the death of a 7 month old.
According to the Odessa Police Department, on Tuesday at approximately 12:52 p.m., officers and Odessa Fire Rescue responded to Brady Station Apartments in reference to the death of a child.
Kameron Gammage, 23, was arrested for injury to a child, first degree felony, and Leyla Pierson, 18, was arrested for injury to a child, state jail felony.
According to arrest affidavits, officers responding to the apartments found the infant dead with swelling to the left side of his face and head. He also had multiple smaller bruises along his head.
Pierson told police she had fed the baby at around 5 a.m. and went back to sleep. When she woke up at around noon, she found the child was not breathing.
She then went to wake Gammage, who she said did not seem to care and took several minutes to wake up and ask Pierson what to do. She told him to call 911.
Both of them told police that Gammage had anger issues and had recently strangled two dogs to death. Gammage said he had attempted to dispose of the dogs' bodies to avoid getting in trouble.
During a police interview with Gammage, he told officers the two had smoked marijuana Sunday evening and Pierson had taken a nap. While she was asleep, the baby began crying.
He began tossing the infant in the air and catching him, but he did not stop crying and Gammage reportedly became frustrated.
Gammage then "accidentally" dropped the baby after the fourth toss and the baby landed on his left side. The father told police the baby "hit the floor hard".
The bruising and swelling began after this but Gammage did not want to tell Pierson for fear of getting in trouble.
Pierson told police she noticed the bruising when she woke up and asked Gammage, who told her he probably hit his head on a part of the crib. She did not seek medical attention over the next few days, saying that while he became more fussy she thought it was because he was teething.
Gammage told police that when he saw the child was dead his first thought was "something like he killed his kid."
Police also say the apartment was disheveled with what appeared to be dog feces over the floor, though the two admitted to trying to clean before officers arrived.
Pierson's bond is set at $5,000. Gammage's bond has not been set at this time.
This is all the information we currently have on the situation. We will update this story as more details are released.