LAKEWOOD, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- A New Jersey man was arrested and charged with murder after his infant daughter died of shaken baby syndrome and head trauma, prosecutors said Thursday.
David Smith, 36, of Lakewood, told Lakewood Township Police Department officers he called 911 after he found his 3-month-old daughter unresponsive on Dec. 5, the Orange County Prosecutor’s Office said in a release.
Doctors who examined the baby girl found that she was suffering from “significant internal injuries,” prosecutors said. She passed away at Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick on Tuesday, the release said.
On Wednesday, the Ocean County Medical Examiner determined that the girl had died of shaken baby syndrome, as well as blunt force trauma to the head, prosecutors said.
Smith was arrested at his home in Lakewood later that day, according to prosecutors. He is currently being held at the Ocean County Jail.
“What happened to this innocent baby is disturbing,” Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a statement. “Parents are supposed to protect, not harm, their children.”
“Justice will be accomplished for this precious baby,” he added.
Smith’s attorney information wasn’t immediately available on Thursday.