Court records say the 7-week-old boy died after suffering blunt force trauma to the head.
BAYTOWN, Texas — A Baytown father has been charged with capital murder after investigators said his 7-week-old son suffered fatal head injuries last summer inside an apartment east of Houston.
Christopher Leon Jenkins was arrested over the weekend and booked into the Harris County Jail, where records show he was held without bond. The charge comes nearly nine months after medics were called July 25, 2025, to an apartment complex on East James Avenue for a report that a baby was not breathing.
Court documents say the child’s mother had left the baby with Jenkins while she went to another unit in the same complex to visit her mother. About 20 minutes later, Jenkins came to that apartment and said something was wrong with the baby. Emergency crews found the infant unclothed on a mattress, with no pulse and pink fluid coming from his mouth.
The baby was first taken to Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital, where he began breathing again, then transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Doctors treated him for a brain bleed and cardiac arrest. The child died Aug. 1. An autopsy later listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head.
Investigators said Jenkins gave several accounts of what happened. Court records say he first reported stepping outside to smoke while the baby slept, then finding him unresponsive. He later said he dropped the baby while feeding him, then said he dropped him after a bath. During a demonstration with a doll, investigators said Jenkins threw it onto a bed and it bounced to the floor.
A witness told investigators that a man was heard yelling for the baby to shut up while the child cried, according to court documents. The witness said the crying then stopped. Investigators also said Jenkins admitted he became angry when the baby cried and said he picked the child up and shook him after the baby fell to the floor.
The case is now in Harris County court. Jenkins was expected to appear Monday after the capital murder charge was filed Friday. Court records listed a public defender for the hearing. No trial date had been announced.
Jenkins remained jailed Monday as prosecutors moved forward with the case. The next court setting is expected to determine how the charge proceeds.
Author note: Last updated April 27, 2026.