Mother charged in death of seven-month-old son

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - The Wichita County Sheriff’s Office arrested Akilah Boone on Aug. 20, 2023, for charges related to an incident in Jan. 2021. According to the arrest warrant, Boone is accused of intentionally or recklessly causing bodily injury to a child, eventually leading to the child’s death.

The warrant reveals that WFPD was called to Boone’s home on Jan. 21, 2021, for an unresponsive seven-month-old boy. When they got there, officers noted Boone’s thermostat was set to 90 degrees, with a heater on in the room the child was found in. The temperature outside that day was approximately 50 degrees.

First responders later declared the baby had died. Boone told the WFPD Crimes Against Children Unit she had taken the boy’s father to work early that morning, then had come home and put her baby down for a nap.

She told police she fed him at 11:30 a.m., then laid him back in his bassinet. Afterward, she went back to sleep, then woke to shower and check on her son. At 12:40 p.m., Boone found the baby face down and unresponsive in his bassinet, so she called 911.

Several of Boone’s family members told police they had witnessed Boone cover the child with blankets and sheets when he was in his bassinet, and they warned her of the dangers of her unsafe sleep practices.

An autopsy conducted by the Southwest Insitute of Forensic Science in April 2021 revealed the child had multiple scars on his body and bruises on his head, which is unusual for a child not yet mobile. The medical examiner determined the cause of death could be from suffocation, heat stroke, or another reason, though it was unrelated to the child’s facial injuries, indicating physical abuse.

During their investigation, the Department of Family Protective Services revealed they had visited Boone to discuss safe sleep for infants, and both Boone and the baby’s father had been made aware of the dangers of placing blankets and pillows into a sleeping baby’s crib or bassinet.

Boone is being held in the Wichita County Jail on a bond of $200,000.