The father of a 3-week-old baby who disappeared from a Palmdale home in early May has been charged with murdering the child, the District Attorney’s Office said Wednesday. The baby’s loss led to a search of an Antelope Valley landfill.
Yusuf Dewees, 24, was charged with murder, attack on a child causing death, and child abuse likely to cause serious bodily harm or death as each of three counts. Dewees is being held in Ogden, Utah, and it was not clear when he would be brought back to Los Angeles to be arraigned.
It is said that Dewees killed his child, Baki Dewees, between May 2 and 3. The child’s body hasn’t been found yet. Last month, sheriff’s officers from Los Angeles County searched the Antelope Valley Landfill for several days but were unable to find the child’s body.
Baki Dewees hasn’t been seen since May 3 and was last seen with his father, according to his family as reported to KTLA.
On Facebook last month, the baby’s great-aunt said that Yusuf Dewees “took him (Baki) out of his grandmother’s home and that was the last time anyone in my family saw him.” His father is in prison in Utah right now.
Last month, Sheriff’s Lt. Omar Camacho told the Los Angeles Times that Baki’s mother, 25-year-old Rosealani Gaoa, was arrested in Utah two days after giving birth to the baby on April 14. She was accused of abusing one of her other three children. The child in that case was given to Utah child welfare workers to help care for.
After being arrested, Yusuf Dewees went back to his family’s home in the 2300 block of Carolyn Drive in Palmdale with his three other children. He then left and went back to Utah, and Baki, the baby, was never seen again. The Times says that government workers in Utah have also taken care of the other two children.
After that, Dewees was arrested in Utah on suspicion of lying to the police and getting in the way of the investigation. The Times said that Dewees reportedly lied to Utah police about where the baby went when they asked about it.
It was not clear why Dewees was charged with murder by the police. The District Attorney’s Office says that when he is brought back to Los Angeles, officials will suggest that he be held on $2 million bail.
He could go to jail for life if found guilty.