A confession of guilt made by the man charged with murdering an infant in Brandon Township last fall will be admissible in court.
The trial of Donald Kyle Raleigh is slated to begin at 8:30 a.m., April 29. Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court Judge Michael Warren ruled on April 23 that incriminating statements Raleigh made in interviews with police the day he was arrested can be used at trial by the prosecution.
According to police reports, at about 2:30 p.m., Oct. 25, Brandon deputies and Brandon Fire Department personnel responded to the 300 block of Hidden Hills Lane for a 4-month-old male infant not breathing. Upon arrival, the child was lying on the living room floor, unresponsive.
Raleigh, 27, was the only adult in the home, left to care for his girlfriend’s son while she was at work. The suspect’s 4-year-old daughter was also in the home and asleep at the time of the incident. Deputies observed head trauma to the 4-month-old boy as medics performed CPR on him.
The baby was pronounced deceased at Genesys Regional Medical Center.
The Oakland County Medical Examiner’s autopsy report concluded the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. The death was ruled a homicide.
Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Dale Brown, who was working the case as a detective, said in extensive interviews at the Brandon substation the day of the murder, Raleigh made statements to police that the child was crying and he lost his patience, threw the baby on the floor, ‘and after he threw the child down, knew he screwed up and dropped the child a second time, on a concrete floor.?
Raleigh is charged with felony murder and first degree child abuse, both punishable by life in prison.