Army Deserter Charged With Murder After Police Say He Punched Infant

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An Army deserter fatally punched his sleeping 3-month-old daughter in the Bronx because he was mad at his wife, police said yesterday.

Lawrence Johnson, 25, was arrested and charged with murder in the 2nd degree and manslaughter in the 1st degree on Saturday.

Johnson was having a fight with his wife at their apartment in the Fordham section of the Bronx on Friday when he struck his daughter, Jayla Johnson, repeatedly in the head with his fist at about 11 a.m., police said. After someone made a 911 call that the infant was having trouble breathing, paramedics brought her to St. Barnabas Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. On Saturday the Medical Examiner’s office called the death a homicide by blunt force to the head. The infant had multiple fractures to her skull.

The family has no history with the Administration for Children’s Services, but police said there had been two domestic complaints at the household. One complaint in April was for harassment, police said. Another complaint was made in December 2005. Lawrence has one prior arrest for assault, police said.

Investigators said that Johnson was “mad” and “frustrated” with his wife, Lasandra Garcia, which led him to strike Jayla.

It is not clear whether Johnson will face separate charges for deserting the military in the summer of 2004, as police said he had. An Army spokesman couldn’t be reached yesterday. More than 8,000 soldiers have left the military without authorization since the war in Iraq in 2003, according to Pentagon records.

Two other children live in the house with Johnson and Ms. Garcia, but Johnson did not father one of them, sources said.


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