NEWSLas Vegas Dad Allegedly Threw His Baby From Balcony After Fight With Fiancée
A newborn baby died in Las Vegas, Nev., after her father allegedly threw her from a second-story balcony over the weekend, PEOPLE reported.
London Martin was almost two months old when she was killed before 4 a.m. on Saturday, October 24.
Her father, Clarence Martin, Jr., was charged with open murder for allegedly throwing her from a 22-foot balcony during an argument with her mother — who is his fiancée.
Officers immediately "located the infant and her mother, who was performing CPR" when they responded to calls of a domestic disturbance. The baby was rushed to a hospital but died from blunt force head trauma.
Martin fled the area as officers arrived on the scene, according to police. He also is said to have started a fire in their apartment, which killed the family dog prior to their arrival.
The baby girl’s mother, Nicole Poole, told cops that he had a history of "mental issues" and did not eat or sleep in the days before the argument, according to Martin’s arrest report, which was obtained by the Las Vegas Journal-Review. However, in their four years together, she had never "seen any issues" with his mental health until earlier this month.
She told police she woke up to him kicking her and the baby. She left the bedroom and took the baby with her to the living room, but he followed and grabbed her. Martin stepped out onto the balcony with the baby and returned empty-handed.
"Poole ran outside and discovered her baby laying on the ground in the parking area," the report stated. "She ran down and picked her baby up, ran southbound through the complex because she thought Martin was chasing her."
While she performed CPR on her infant, a neighbor dialed 911.
One of Poole’s relatives set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for the funeral expenses.
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"It is with extreme sadness our family is needing to reach out, so we can properly bury our precious 7 week old baby girl London. We were completely blindsided and are still in shock this is even a reality. Our sweet London was horrifically taken from us, and all at once, all our lives have been changed forever," they wrote.
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"You will always hold a special place in all our hearts," they added. "You were treasured and loved before we even knew you sweet baby girl. Even if for only a short time, you were our beautiful little princess."
The father was finally caught after he led police on a chase, which had them end up at McCarran International Airport. Martin crashed his car at least three times before he abandoned it. Afterward, he entered the airport and crawled onto a luggage conveyor belt into a "secure area of the airport," and changed into a TSA Security shirt before he walked toward the tarmac.
Martin is being charged with open murder, first-degree arson, torture of an animal and battery of a protected person. He is yet to enter pleas to any of the charges.
