UPDATE Jan. 13 1 p.m. The preliminary hearing in this case has been rescheduled for Feb. 11 at 9:30 a.m. in Judge William Jackson’s courtroom (302).
Steven Cephas is expected in court Thursday morning for a preliminary hearing in the death of a toddler he was babysitting while its mother was at work. Cephas is also known as Steve Dawson and Savion Dawson, according to charging documents in the case. He will be 21 years old on Sunday.
According to the charging documents, 20-month-old Dominic Dwayne Kingsbury Jr. was found unconscious by paramedics responding to an emergency call about the child at about 2 a.m. on Monday, November 8, 2010. He was transported to Children’s National Medical Center and pronounced dead at 3:17 that morning. An autopsy concluded that he had suffered multiple blunt force injuries and that his death was a homicide.
Investigators say Cephas was home alone with Kingsbury the night the child died. According to the charging documents, Cephas called Kingsbury’s mother at about 1:20 a.m. to tell her that the child was “shaking.” The child’s mother sent someone to check on him; that person found Kingsbury
lying face up on the bed [with] marks and bruising on his face and stomach. At that time [the witness] picked [Kingsbury] up and ran into the living room frantically screaming for help.
Charging document follow:
