Couple Claimed Boy, 4, Died In Car Crash; They Were Found Guilty Of His Murder

Editor's note: This article contains descriptions of brutal and deadly child abuse.

PHILADELPHIA — When a West Philadelphia woman claimed her 4-year-old son died in a car crash, her father looked for the real answer to Damari Carter's suspicious disappearance. Nearly three years later, the child's mother and her boyfriend were found guilty of murder.

In 2023, Dominique Bailey moved back from Texas to her father's house in Philadelphia. Frank Bailey had offered to help her raise Damari — her nonverbal son who had a developmental delay.

Dominique Bailey began dating Kevin Spencer that October, often leaving Damari unattended to go see him. When Dominique Bailey's father confronted her about her parenting, she moved out. The last time the family heard from Damari was around his fourth birthday in late November of that year, according to the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office.

Dominique Bailey and Damari moved into Spencer's apartment on the 3800 block of Reno Street. In December 2023, Dominique's friends informed Frank that she was claiming Damari was fatally struck by a car.

Frank Bailey didn't believe his daughter's explanations, so he contacted news outlets and put up "missing persons" posters of Damari. Authorities opened an investigation after hearing about the missing child from the local news.

After police confirmed there were no reported accidents involving a 4-year-old boy, they shifted their focus to Dominique Bailey. Bailey said she was walking with Damari when he dropped a toy and was hit by a car. But upon further questioning, she claimed Spencer was walking with him.

Neither were true.

Spencer gave detectives a similar car-crash story. Both he and Bailey claimed that an ambulance took Damari to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and that CHOP lost his body.

Detectives executed a search warrant at Spencer's Reno Street apartment and found no sign of Damari or any children's items. Later in the investigation, an eyewitness reported hearing a child crying during repeated beatings. She installed a hallway camera to get the sounds on film and later called the Department of Human Services (DHS).

The camera showed Damari entering the apartment on Dec. 5, 2023. Audio recordings of repeated beatings were captured over the next three days. Then, Spencer exited his apartment with a large trash bag and a black Puma duffle bag.

Damari was presumed dead. In January 2024, Dominique Bailey and Spencer were charged with murder. A few months later, the duffle bag was found in a vacant lot with the victim's body inside.

On Monday, a jury found Bailey and Spencer guilty on all counts, including third-degree murder, conspiracy, endangering the welfare of a child, abuse of corpse and tampering with evidence.

"Every homicide is tragic, but this case is particularly disturbing on so many levels," said District Attorney Larry Krasner. "Damari's family will never get to see him grow up or celebrate his milestones, all because of the callous actions of Dominique Bailey and Kevin Spencer."

Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 4.