Father Stands Trial in Infant Son’s Death, Alleged Abuse of Surviving Twin

OWINGS MILLS—A Baltimore County man is on trial this week, accused of fatally abusing his 6-month-old son and injuring the baby’s surviving twin sister.

Caleb Clemons is charged with first-degree child abuse resulting in death and other offenses in the June 9, 2021, death of his son, Reign Clemons. If convicted, he could face life in prison.

Reign and his twin were born at 29 weeks gestation in late 2020 and spent the first few months of their lives in a hospital. Reign, who weighed 1 pound, 6 ounces at birth, was released from a neonatal intensive care unit almost four months after he was born.

Two and a half months later, the baby died after his father found him unresponsive at their Owings Mills apartment on Regalia Court.

Doctors who examined Reign at the emergency room noted facial bruising and retinal bleeding in both eyes.

“Those are highly specific for child abuse,” prosecutor Lisa Dever told jurors in opening statements Tuesday. “[The doctors], in that moment, believe that something’s not right, that this was not an accident that happened to Reign.”

Reign’s autopsy documented multiple injuries, including brain bleeds, 26 rib fractures and bruising to his face, forehead and buttocks. His death was ruled a homicide caused by blunt force trauma, and a Baltimore County grand jury indicted Clemons in February 2023.

A medical examiner estimated that 12 of Reign’s rib fractures occurred in the 24 hours before his death.

Clemons and the twins’ mother had been in an on-again, off-again relationship since their late teens but had only started living together two months before Reign’s death.

Clemons is also charged with abusing his surviving infant daughter, who was examined the day after her brother’s death and found to have broken bones.

He faces 10 charges, including first-degree child abuse resulting in the death of a child under 13, first-degree assault, second-degree child abuse and second-degree assault.

In the half hour before Reign lost consciousness, Clemons had been caring for Reign while his mother took a break in another room, according to the prosecution.

A child abuse expert, Dr. Scott Krugman, testified Wednesday that the brain injuries almost certainly occurred moments before the baby became unresponsive.

Defense attorney Brandon Taylor told jurors that the medical evidence cannot establish who inflicted the injuries. He has emphasized that multiple people had contact with the babies during the period when doctors believe some of the injuries occurred. He also said no one witnessed Clemons abusing or even behaving inappropriately toward either child or an older daughter.

“No one is going to be able to point a finger at who cared for the child during that time, who watched the child during that time, and who caused each one of those injuries with those kids during those times,” Taylor told jurors in his opening statement.

Prosecutors allege Clemons caused the twins’ injuries at their Owings Mills apartment between April 1, when he moved in with the babies’ mother, and June 9, 2021, the day Reign died.

During cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, Taylor has repeatedly raised the possibility that CPR contributed to Reign’s broken ribs. Medical witnesses, however, testified that the location of the fractures — on the back and sides of the torso — was not consistent with CPR, even CPR performed incorrectly.

A doctor testified Wednesday that Reign’s rib fractures were consistent with aggressive squeezing and that the brain bleeds were likely caused by a shaking motion or when his head struck something such as a couch or bed with significant force.

The case has been marked by emotional and sometimes distressing testimony. The judge has paused proceedings when the baby’s mother and, later, a juror became too overwhelmed to continue. The juror, who was an alternate, was released from jury duty Wednesday.

A jury began hearing evidence Tuesday before Baltimore County Circuit Judge Keith Truffer.

The twins’ mother, Starr Patterson, told jurors she went on bed rest at Sinai Hospital and, after the babies were born, visited them in the NICU every day for most of the day.

After they were released, she spent her days caring for the babies and tending to their health issues, which were mostly gastrointestinal. She testified that she was confused about how doctors had not detected Reign’s rib fractures.

“I go to the hospital so much, I go to doctors, and no one ever said anything,” she said.

She said she tried to make sure the babies were well cared for and protected.

“They just went through a whole lot and fought really hard to be here, and I just wanted to give them the world,” Patterson said.

Reign had been fussy all day on June 9, 2021, and just wanted to be held, Patterson testified. He was vomiting and showing little interest in his bottle. Patterson said she thought the baby was still feeling the effects of vaccines he and his sister had received three days earlier at their six-month checkup.

She called the family pediatrician, who advised her to give Reign Pedialyte and see how he was doing in the morning.

That afternoon, she said, Clemons offered to take over caring for the babies to give Patterson a break. She went into her bedroom, and about half an hour later, Clemons alerted her that something was wrong with Reign.

Patterson tried to rouse her son using techniques she had learned at the hospital, but the child would not wake up and had stopped breathing. She performed infant CPR while Clemons called 911. Medics tried to revive Reign as they rushed him to a hospital, but he did not survive.

“My whole world collapsed,” Patterson said.

Police were called, and shortly afterward, child protective services removed Reign’s surviving twin and the couple’s 3-year-old daughter from the home. A medical examination found no injuries on the older child but identified evidence of 12 rib fractures and a broken wrist in Reign’s twin. The children's mother regained custody of the girls later that year.

Patterson testified that she initially did not suspect Clemons had anything to do with the children’s injuries. He had seemed like a good father since moving in with her in April, she said, and she acknowledged under cross-examination that she never saw him hurt either twin or their older sister.

At first, Patterson said, she thought Reign’s injuries might have been caused by something that happened while he was being treated at the hospital. But after learning more about the extent of his injuries, her opinion changed.

“That doesn’t sound like something that happened in the hospital,” she recalled thinking. “That sounds like someone hurt my baby.”

Patterson said her opinion of Clemons also changed when he showed up to Reign’s funeral high on drugs. She stopped seeing him, and Clemons later checked himself into a drug treatment facility in late June, 2021.

Taylor told jurors that Clemons was distraught after Reign’s death, turned to drugs to cope and eventually sought inpatient treatment.

Patterson testified that during several subsequent phone conversations, Clemons told her he planned to hire a lawyer and tell police what had happened. She said he admitted dropping Reign once.

In his opening statement, Taylor said Clemons also told a detective that he did not believe he had ever done anything that could have caused such serious injuries, although he acknowledged that he had dropped Reign.

The prosecution is expected to rest its case today after a detective from the Baltimore County police departments completes his testimony.