A Wisconsin couple, Kevin McCall and Christina Davis, was arrested and charged with two counts of chronic neglect of a child after a 1-year-old child was found dead in her crib “covered in urine and feces”
Christina Davis allegedly gave her 1-year-old daughter Fireball whiskey to help her “pass out” before later returning from work to find the infant dead in her crib.
After responding to reports of a “pulseless nonbreathing child” on Feb. 22, police officers and firefighters arrived at the residence of Kevin McCall, 20, and Christina Davis, 23, to find the couple standing on the front porch with the 1-year-old victim, according to criminal complaints obtained by WISN and Law & Crime.
While the young child was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead shortly after, Davis’ 6-year-old daughter from a previous relationship allegedly told the police that she often had to help care for the younger child when the adults were away.
The complaint alleges that Davis told police that she and McCall woke up around 9:30 a.m. and made sure the children were asleep before they both left the house to get Popeyes, per Law & Crime. After the couple returned with the food, Davis went to work while McCall allegedly stayed home with the kids.
When she returned home around 2 p.m., Davis allegedly said that she saw her 6-year-old child standing in the corner as punishment for stealing the TV remote. McCall also told police that he “whooped” the girl.
After seeing that McCall was busy fixing a video game controller, Davis told police she went to the other room to find her 1-year-old “stiff” with her eyes rolling backward, after which she told McCall to call 911.
McCall allegedly claimed that he and Davis had left the children home alone “at least 25 times in the past six to seven months,” WISN reported, citing the criminal complaint. On this occasion, however, he was home but admitted to “never” feeding or changing the baby’s diaper while Davis was at work.
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In addition to finding the infant “covered in urine and feces,” investigators described the home as having a “strong odor” and being “unkempt,” per the outlet.
When speaking to detectives, the 6-year-old girl allegedly claimed that McCall and Davis often asked her to babysit the younger child before showing them a bottle of “medicine” they would use to make the baby “pass out”: a 50 mL bottle of Fireball whiskey.
“I don’t think it is medicine,” she reportedly told detectives, per Law & Crime.
While denying that she ever gave the baby alcohol, Davis told police that what her daughter told investigators “was a lie” and that she only ever gave the toddler “cold and flu medication.” She also allegedly claimed that she depended on her 6-year-old to help around the house because McCall “does not provide any assistance.”
In the complaint, the medical examiner stated that they did not find any signs of “trauma, illness, or infection” that pointed to a clear cause of death.
McCall and Davis were both arrested and charged with two counts of chronic neglect of a child. They are being held at the Milwaukee County Jail on $10,000 bond, per jail records seen by PEOPLE.
“At this time, evidence has not been presented to a trier of fact; therefore, the defendant is presumed innocent,” McCall’s attorney Russell Jones says in a statement to PEOPLE. “That presumption remains unless a trier of facts finds otherwise, beyond a reasonable doubt. Therefore, I encourage all concerned to wait until the evidence is presented before passing judgment. “
PEOPLE reached out to Davis’ attorney for comment.
