‘Frustrated’ dad kills his crying baby — then goes to sleep, Pennsylvania official says

A father who at first said he accidentally killed his infant daughter in March has now admitted to purposely harming the two-month-old child, a Pennsylvania district attorney said.

Lamont Bacchus, 31, and two others received upgraded charges Thursday after officials said he revealed new information regarding the death of the baby, identified by Lehigh Valley Live as Reann M. Bacchus.

The father initially told police he accidentally dropped Reann when he tripped while carrying her on March 19. He changed his story when results of the girl’s autopsy were revealed, Monroe County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Mancuso said in a news release Thursday.

The autopsy revealed the baby “suffered from a gaping skull fracture on the left side of the head and numerous scalp and brain hemorrhages,” according to the district attorney’s office, which listed her cause of death as “traumatic brain injury as a result of homicide.”

Bacchus later said “frustration” led to the deadly sequence of events.

“Bacchus admitted that he had struck the baby’s head against the table out of frustration from her crying and him being the only one caring for the child during that time,” Mancuso said.

He immediately knew Reann was dead, the district attorney’s office said, but placed her on the couch before he went to sleep.

Bacchus later left the home “in search of drugs,” officials said, and the baby was found by Tony Kristiansen, a friend of Bacchus, and the child’s mother, Amanda Green, according to Lehigh Valley Live.

Kristiansen and Green, both 29, woke up to find Reann dead on the couch, the newspaper reported. They delayed calling 911 when they found the baby so they could hide drugs, the district attorney’s office said.

All three were using drugs in the presence of children at the home, officials said.

Bacchus was charged with criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of a child and drug charges. He was also charged with assault on accusations he physically assaulted Green the night before their daughter was killed, according to the district attorney’s office.

Kristiansen and Green now face felony endangering charges and drug delivery charges, according to officials.

The child’s mom was also charged with involuntary manslaughter because she injected Bacchus with drugs, then left the child in his care so she could sleep with Kristiansen, the district attorney said.

This story was originally published April 22, 2021 at 3:52 PM with the headline "‘Frustrated’ dad kills his crying baby — then goes to sleep, Pennsylvania official says."