HOPEWELL, Va. – A Hopewell father has been charged with murder five months after the death of his three-week-old infant.
According to police, at approximately 10 p.m. on June 10, officers and emergency medical personnel responded to a residence in the 200 block of S. 13th Avenue, for an unresponsive three-week-old boy.
The child was subsequently transported to the John Randolph Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.
Police wouldn’t go into detail about the infant’s death but say this was an in depth investigation involving multiple agencies.
Members from the Hopewell Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Unit, the Hopewell Department of Social Services and Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, responded and initiated an investigation of the matter.
David Gans (PHOTO: Riverside Regional Jail)
After a five month, multi-agency investigation and an autopsy, a warrant of arrest for first-degree murder was issued for 21-year-old David Anthony Gans, the father of the infant.
U.S. Marshals arrested Gans on Wednesday afternoon, and he was transported to the Riverside Regional Jail where he is being held without bond prior to his arraignment.
U.S. Marshals also arrested Angelo Gans, age 24, and Kadisha Gans, age 22, both of Hopewell, on charges of failing to provide medical treatment in conjunction with the infant’s death.
Kadisha Gans, and Angelo Gans (PHOTO: Riverside Regional Jail)
Suspect’s mother speaks out: ‘He didn't kill his baby’
Our sister station WTVR spoke with David Gans' mother after her son's arrest Wednesday. She asked that we not reveal her identity.
“It kind of blindsided me. I didn't see this coming at all,” said the mother of David Gans and the two other siblings arrested.
“He’s not a murderer. He didn't kill his baby," the mother said tearfully. "I'm a mother and I'm a grandmother too and if I even thought he hurt his baby, I would have been the first person to tell him.”
Gans mother says she was out of town when the incident happened, but her son told her Jeremiah wasn’t making any noise that evening.
“He went to check on him and he wasn't breathing anymore,” she said.
The mother said that's when Gans called 911.
