Hamilton Man Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter in Baby’s Death

A Hamilton man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with the 2023 death of his girlfriend’s three-and-a-half-month-old daughter.

Damion Warren-Baker had offered to care for the infant for two nights, reportedly telling her exhausted mother that he wanted to prove he could “step up” when needed.

Warren-Baker entered his guilty plea before Superior Court Justice Paul Sweeny on July 21. Crown lawyer Kelli Frew told the court that the baby’s mother, relatives and supporters were present during the hearing.

Warren-Baker Offered to Care for the Baby

According to an agreed statement of facts presented in court, Warren-Baker was living with his grandmother when the incident occurred on November 5, 2023.

The infant was healthy but had been unusually fussy, leaving her mother exhausted. Warren-Baker offered to take the baby for two nights so her mother could rest.

He brought the child to his apartment that morning. Later, he uploaded a social-media video that showed him smoking from a large glass bong.

Throughout the day, the baby’s mother contacted Warren-Baker several times through calls and messages. At approximately 3:30 p.m., she asked him to return her daughter within an hour.

Repeated Instructions to Call Emergency Services

At around 5 p.m., Warren-Baker called his grandmother and claimed that he had fallen asleep while feeding the infant on a couch. He said the baby fell from the couch and that he could not wake her after picking her up.

He also told his grandmother that he had not used marijuana that day. Frew told the court that this statement was untrue.

Warren-Baker’s grandmother instructed him to contact both 911 and the baby’s mother. However, he did not immediately call emergency services.

Instead, he messaged the infant’s grandmother, stating that the child was unresponsive and barely breathing. He also sent her a photograph in which the baby’s head appeared visibly deformed. The grandmother did not see those messages until later.

Warren-Baker then posted in a group conversation involving the baby’s mother and other relatives, saying the child was struggling to breathe and needed hospital treatment. Another family member also urged him to call 911.

Emergency Call Made After Significant Delay

Warren-Baker eventually called 911 at 5:46 p.m. He told the operator that the baby had bumped her head while he was feeding her and had begun experiencing breathing difficulties.

He claimed the incident had happened only five to 10 minutes earlier. However, the court heard that 37 minutes had passed since he first told his grandmother that the child had fallen from the couch.

Police officers arrived approximately five minutes after the emergency call. One officer described the baby as wet and appearing lifeless.

Paramedics transported the infant to hospital, where doctors later pronounced her dead.

Different Explanations Given About Baby’s Injuries

Warren-Baker was initially arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault. He was later arrested again and charged with second-degree murder.

Frew said Warren-Baker provided “evolving” explanations about what had happened. He reportedly gave different accounts to police and the baby’s mother concerning how the infant struck her head, the number of times she was injured and what he did afterwards.

When police arrested him again in 2025, Warren-Baker admitted taking a small hit from his bong to “take the edge off” while the baby was sleeping that morning.

His account reportedly changed again in September after he violated an order by contacting the infant’s mother. During that conversation, he allegedly said he had not taken his medication, the child would not stop crying and he punched her.

Defence lawyer Kim Edward told the court that Warren-Baker does not remember telling the baby’s mother that he struck the child.

Autopsy Found Multiple Blunt-Force Injuries

An autopsy determined that the infant died from blunt head trauma involving multiple impacts.

The baby suffered several injuries, including scrapes, bruising and two skull fractures. Frew said all of the injuries were caused by Warren-Baker and could not be explained by any of the accounts he had provided.

The Crown lawyer said only Warren-Baker knows exactly what caused the child’s devastating injuries.

She added that Warren-Baker had a legal duty to protect the infant while she was in his care but failed to do so by recklessly disregarding her safety.

The guilty plea brings the second-degree murder proceedings to an end, with Warren-Baker now admitting responsibility for manslaughter.

The case centred on the infant’s fatal head injuries, his delayed call to emergency services and the changing explanations he provided about what occurred while the baby was under his supervision.