MILFORD, Conn — A Bridgeport man was charged in connection to the death of a baby found unresponsive in a Milford motel room on Wednesday afternoon.
Dale Kirkland, 31 was arrested at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Bridgeport by the city's police department, along with the Milford Police Department and Connecticut State Police. He was charged with risk of injury to a minor and cruelty to persons and arraigned in a Milford courtroom on Thursday.
“The defendant was the last person to see that child alive, was the last person near that child,” Assistant State's Attorney Alanna Paul said in court.
Milford police reported they were called to the Mayflower Motel around 11 a.m. Wednesday after a housekeeper found the infant in the bathtub, ranging in age from three to six months old.
“The first officers on scene did remove the baby from the bathtub, and did CPR until the paramedics arrived,” said PFC Brianna MacDonald with the Milford Police Department.
MacDonald said the baby was rushed to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Detectives then started following leads and checking paperwork and surveillance cameras at the motel.
“We discovered that Dale Kirkland had been renting out the room. Further investigation revealed that it appeared he did check in with the infant and checked out yesterday morning without the infant,” MacDonald said.
Police shared photos of Kirkland from those surveillance cameras online and with other law enforcement before he was found walking around Bridgeport and arrested without incident. MacDonald said he was sent to the hospital for an evaluation.
“It was kind of all hands on deck as soon as we heard that call come in,” MacDonald said.
While police are not able to share any information about the baby’s mother, they do say there was an open Department of Children and Families investigation involving the family. They also believe Kirkland is related to the baby.
DCF Commissioner Jodi Hill-Lilly said in a statement, “We can confirm that we received a report on this tragic incident and are conducting a joint investigation with the Milford Police Department. Due to state and federal confidentiality laws, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
Though Kirkland doesn’t have any criminal record, prosecutors said once the results from the autopsy come in, more charges could be brought against him.
Meanwhile, as the legal process plays out, the officers and cleaning staff who made the grim discovery are dealing with the aftermath.
“We’re all really here for each other, supporting each other. It’s one of those things that you kind of just, you know you know it happens but you just never expect to see it,” MacDonald said. “Our supervisors are reaching out, making sure that everyone is okay. We also are lucky to have Winston, who is our therapy K9, who was there right away and has been hanging out with all us officers that had to respond to the incident.”
The judge set Kirkland’s bond at $1 million. After requests from attorneys, she ordered a mental health evaluation for him, a competency exam, and put him on suicide watch. The judge also agreed to make a suggestion to segregate Kirkland while in prison.
Managers at the Mayflower Motel were not available for immediate comment, other than to say Kirkland had stayed at the hotel in a different room in the past.
Julia LeBlanc is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jleblanc@fox61.com Follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
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