Jury Deadlocks in Trial of Father Charged in Infant Son’s Death

A Baltimore County jury deadlocked Friday in the trial of a father accused of causing the death of his infant son and abusing the baby’s surviving twin.

Caleb Clemons, 31, is charged with first-degree child abuse resulting in death and other offenses in the June 9, 2021, death of his 6-month-old son, Reign Clemons.

The baby’s father found him unresponsive on the couch of the family’s Owings Mills apartment on Regalia Court more than five years ago. The child had been fussy and vomiting that day, but his parents thought it was because he had received vaccines three days earlier. The child’s pediatrician had told the parents over the phone to keep the boy hydrated and check back in the morning.

An autopsy found the baby had suffered 26 rib fractures — some old and some new — and multiple brain bleeds. The medical examiner’s office ruled his death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma, and a Baltimore County grand jury indicted Clemons in February 2023.

Clemons has been jailed at the Baltimore County Detention Center since his arrest.

Jurors heard testimony for three days and deliberated Friday for about seven hours before telling Judge Keith Truffer they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Clemons also is charged with abusing Reign’s surviving twin, who doctors said had 12 rib fractures and a broken wrist when she was examined the day after her brother’s death.

Medical experts testified that the rib fractures were caused by forceful squeezing and that Reign’s brain injuries were caused by a hard blow, perhaps against something soft like a couch or bed. The baby also had bleeding in his eyes.

At trial, prosecutors argued that the timing of Reign’s fatal injuries pointed directly to Clemons, while the defense maintained that the state had failed to prove who hurt the babies.

The twins were born 11 weeks premature and spent more than three months in a neonatal intensive care unit before being cleared to go home. Reign had been out of the hospital for about two and a half months when he died.

Only one of two people could have caused Reign’s death, prosecutor John Magee told jurors in closing arguments: either Clemons or the child’s mother.

The babies’ mother, he said, was a diligent, loving parent who did everything she was supposed to do to care for her children. Starr Patteson stayed with them every day at the hospital until they were released. Once they were home, she tracked their feedings, monitored their health and took them to their myriad doctors’ appointments.

Magee noted that, on the stand, the mother was “devastated and inconsolable” when the defense asked her a question implying she had not done enough to seek medical care for her child in the hours before his death.

In contrast, the prosecution characterized Clemons as an inconsistent presence during the pregnancy and NICU stay. After the baby died, Magee said, Clemons was “stoic” and was never seen crying or upset.

His defense attorney said Clemons could not be at the hospital because of COVID restrictions and that he dealt with the grief of losing his only son by using drugs. Clemons checked himself into drug treatment a few weeks after the funeral.

Documents introduced at trial showed he was treated for fentanyl withdrawal.

A doctor who specializes in child abuse testified that the child’s head injury would have occurred moments before he became unresponsive.

“And who had custody and care of Reign in those moments?” Magee asked. “Caleb did.”

Prosecutors said a team of doctors, social workers, child abuse experts and police detectives followed the evidence and determined Clemons was responsible after an investigation that spanned two years.

“The facts, the evidence, and the law point directly at Mr. Clemons,” Magee said.

Clemons’ account of his actions evolved throughout the investigation, Magee said. Clemons initially did not tell detectives he had done anything that might have injured Reign.

Later, he told the child’s mother he had dropped the baby once. In another police interview, he said he had dropped the baby “a lot,” then quickly corrected himself to say he had dropped Reign twice — once off a bed and another time when he tripped and fell while holding the baby.

He also said in the interview that he sometimes held each twin like a dumbbell and lifted them as if he were doing bicep curls.

Defense attorney Brandon Taylor told jurors the prosecution had not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. The babies had been in contact with multiple other people who could have caused the injuries, he said.

Clemons had been a caring father to the twins, Taylor said — a father who changed diapers, gave feedings, attended doctors’ appointments, cleaned the house and took over nighttime care to allow the twins’ mother to sleep.

He reminded jurors that even the babies’ mother had thought Clemons was a good father before Reign died. No one had ever accused Clemons of abuse or inappropriate behavior toward the twins or his two other children in the past, Taylor said.

“Not one of them said they saw Caleb abuse those kids. Not one of them said they saw Caleb slam those kids down. Not one of them said they saw Caleb shake those kids,” Taylor said.

Taylor told the jury that the babies’ mother was the one who had been with Reign for most of that day. Clemons had taken Reign and put him down for a nap on a couch in the living room about half an hour before he found the child unconscious. Reign’s mother was in a bedroom with the door closed.

Clemons did not testify, and the defense called no witnesses.