5-Month-Old's Father Charged With Child Abuse in Baby's Death

SILVER SPRING, MD — A White Oak man is charged with child abuse — specifically head trauma — that caused the death of his 5-month-old son last fall, say Montgomery County Police. Montgomery County Police on Monday arrested and charged Roger Lee Miller Jr., 20, of the 11500 block of February Circle in White Oak, with two counts of child abuse related to the death of his 5-month-old son, Darrell Lee Barnes.

Miller called 911 on Oct. 28, 2016, to report that his son was gasping for air and then became unresponsive. The child was also bleeding from the nose and vomiting, Miller told dispatchers. He had been home alone with his son for less than two hours when he made the emergency call, police say.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services personnel went to the child’s mother’s home in the 1500 block of Heather Hollow Circle in White Oak. The boy was taken to Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, where doctors determined he had suffered head trauma.

The baby was transferred to Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., for further treatment, but he died two days later. While the final results of an autopsy performed by the District of Colombia’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner are pending, police say doctors found that the child’s fatal injuries were not sustained accidentally.

The infant’s mother told police that on Oct. 28 she left the child, who was healthy and alert, in Miller’s care. Authorities say Miller was the only person with his son during the time he suffered his fatal injuries.

Miller’s was arrested Monday on charges of first-degree child abuse resulting in death and first-degree child abuse resulting in severe physical injury. He was held without bond.

»Photo of suspect Roger Miller Jr., courtesy of Montgomery County Police