Baby no longer on life support; father arrested

The mother of an 11-month-old boy who had been on life support has reached out for help following the arrest of her baby's father.

"Life is so precious and moments like this a mother just don't know what to do," Alexus Pillows, 21, posted Thursday in setting up a GoFundMe page at https://bit.ly/2MLSAlO. "Never in a million years did I think that I would have to bury my baby boy Garyon Dantion Gaston Jr. at 11 months. If everyone could please help out in any way possible would be a blessing to me."

Hospital officials confirmed for news stations that the boy died Thursday.

Garyon D. Gaston, 22, was charged Sunday with aggravated child abuse after he called 911 a day earlier saying the baby was in medical distress, according to his arrest report. Thursday a new charge of second-degree murder was added to his jail listing.

A Child Protection Team reported the child suffered several injuries including broken bones, bruises and bleeding that indicated severe abuse. The last line of the arrest report's narrative said the boy was on life support.

Gaston, of Laura Street, confirmed being left in charge of the baby and his nearly 2-year-old sibling after taking Pillows to work about noon, the report said. He told officers he was listening to music while the children were on a bed. He said he last saw the baby drinking from his bottle, then checked later when he heard the two children making noise and found the baby "spewing milk." He called 911 about 8 p.m.

Pillows told police the baby was in good health prior to that and had no known medical issues, according to the report.

Neither have local criminal histories, according to Duval County court records. Both are from Shreveport, La., according to their Facebook accounts. Gaston, whose booking sheet says he's lived in Jacksonville two years, remains in jail with bail set at $250,000.