Man Convicted In Son's 2012 Death Now Charged In 2nd Infant's Death
BALTIMORE (WJZ) — A Baltimore man convicted of killing his infant son five years ago has been charged with killing his girlfriend's 18-month-old son last week.
Around 9:30 p.m. July 18, a call reporting an unresponsive child came from a home in the 2800 block of Forest Glen Road in Northwest Baltimore.
Francois Browne, 35, has been charged with first-degree murder in the beating death of 18-month-old Zaray Gray. Browne is the boyfriend of the child's mother.
RELATED: Mother's Boyfriend, Convicted In Son's Murder, Charged In 18-Month-Old's Death
Police said Browne was charged Saturday.
"When our investigation began, we saw visible signs of injury. But once some x-rays were done, we saw broken bone and the medical examiner confirmed the death was the result of a homicide," said Baltimore Police Communications Chief T.J. Smith.
Officials said the toddler died with a broken clavicle and internal injuries.
If convicted, Zaray would be the second child to die at Browne's hands. He was convicted of killing his son, 7-month-old Kendall Browne, in 2012.
Browne served two years and 11 months in prison for Kendall's death.
"This man had a situation in the past where a child in his custody died as a result of a homicide," said Smith. "This just seems like a system failure."
The state's attorney office released the following statement:
"After two mistrials in the 2012 case, the Bernstein administration elected to plea the defendant out on Child Abuse Resulting in Death and the court imposed a sentence of 15 years, suspending all but 4 years for him to serve in prison. Our office is committed to vigorously pursuing justice for the recently deceased infant, his mother and loved ones."
"It's sad, it's tragic," said Smith. "It's probably one of the worst parts of our job, having to report about a young child as a victim of a homicide and in this case, we're talking about a one-and-a-half-year-old. When we talk about these things, we talk about the short span of their life and what they endured over that short span."
Browne is being held at central booking.
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