LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A Las Vegas woman charged with child abuse and murder had a prior history of having children taken away by Child Protective Services.
Las Vegas police were called for a reported missing person at approximately 8:25 p.m. on June 7. The two-year-old child was found dead in a dumpster a few hours later and the child’s mother, Diaja Smith, was arrested.
An arrest report obtained by FOX5 sheds more light on Smith’s history of issues with her children. She told LVMPD that two of her children were taken away by CPS in Texas following a “domestic violence incident” with an ex-boyfriend. Police said her timelines of events with CPS was “unclear” and that “she changed the timeline multiple times.”
On the night the child disappeared, she told police that she and her children had taken a bus to a local park, but no video footage obtained by investigators showed her on the route in question. When asked if someone could verify that she had been there with the victim, she said that a convenience store clerk could verify having seen them together five days earlier.
Video footage showed the suspect leaving a residence multiple times before reporting her son missing on June 7. She was also seen leaving the building at 8 p.m., carrying one child and pushing two others in a stroller, including the victim.
“[The victim] was not observed moving while inside the stroller,” the arrest report noted.
(Source: KVVU)
After being taken to the hospital, doctors determined that he had been suffering from a brain bleed. He also had “signs of significant injury to the head, torso, and buttocks” consistent with abuse. One of the victim’s siblings also showed signs of abuse and was taken into the care of CPS.
When questioned about the victim’s injuries, Smith attributed them to a fall from a bicycle. She denied ever physically hitting her children.
When they told her that her son’s body had been found, police said she became “irate” and demanded to be taken to jail.
Smith told police that she had not seen the victim’s father in years, but in a police interview, he said that their relationship was “on again, off again,” and that he stayed with her about four days a week. He also said that she had abused their son in the past.
“She went to great lengths to conceal the murder by moving the body, creating a false missing person event, and repeatedly lied to detectives,” the report noted in conclusion.
Smith’s initial appearance in Clark County Justice Court is scheduled for tomorrow.
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