MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee man has been sentenced to 18 months in prison, convicted in connection to the 2019 death of infant.
A jury found Devion Hughes, 30, guilty of neglecting a child-consequence death on Sept. 2. The jury found him not guilty of first-degree reckless homicide.
Milwaukee police were called to a home near 11th and Atkinson on June 10, 2019. There, fire department personnel were performing CPR on a 10-month-old girl who was ultimately pronounced dead at the scene.
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According to a criminal complaint, Hughes and his girlfriend had taken in his sister's four kids – including the 10-month-old – after the sister passed away a few weeks earlier. The girlfriend had gone to work and returned home around 9:40 p.m. that night to find the infant cold to the touch and not breathing.
Hughes told police he'd fed the infant that night before his girlfriend returned home and he "did not notice anything wrong," per the complaint. He was the only adult home with the infant that night. Later, the complaint states, police learned Hughes had called his girlfriend to "come home immediately" around 9:30 p.m. because something was wrong. When she arrived, the girlfriend called 911 and began CPR until first responders got there.
The day after the infant's death, an autopsy found she had bruises near her eyelid and on her arms, legs and back. She had soft tissue hemorrhaging, too. The medical examiner's office found the infant's injuries consistent with blunt force trauma to the head and ruled the manner of death a homicide.
Two days after the infant's death, the complaint states, Hughes visited with a lawyer. He refused to elaborate to his girlfriend as to what happened, but said: "I (expletive) up."
Hughes was additionally sentenced to 2 ½ years of extended supervision.
Hughes was one of two men charged in connection to a high-speed police chase in Waukesha County this summer. During the pursuit, a gun was tossed from the car.
Hughes was the front seat passenger. He was charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, possession with intent to deliver THC and felony bail jumping. Waukesha police said, the day of the chase, he was out on bond for the 2019 infant death case.
It all started when police spotted a vehicle on Moreland with suspended registration on Aug. 21. Police learned the registered owner didn't have a valid license, and they began following the vehicle.
Police tried to pull the men over at Highway 164 and Main, and, according to a criminal complaint, it seemed as though the driver was going to pull into a parking lot on Main. However, the driver pulled a U-turn and sped off, blowing a red light at Highway 164, heading north.
A pursuit ensued, and prosecutors say police reached a top speed of 108 mph. The driver blew another red light at Moreland and Main after turning onto Moreland from 164. At Moreland and Kossow, the driver went up onto the curb and grass to speed around other cars, popping the rear passenger tire and nearly hitting a metal pole.
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As the vehicle headed toward the I-94 on-ramp, the blown tire started falling apart.
Prosecutors said police saw someone in the passenger seat throw something out the window during the 3.4-mile pursuit. A 9mm semi-automatic pistol was later found in the grass off I-94 and Barker.
After the vehicle came to a stop, police identified the passenger as Hughes.
A search of the vehicle revealed open Patron Tequila bottles in the back seat and marijuana in two backpacks, the pot weighing more than 1,000 grams, according to investigators.
Hughes told investigators the driver, his cousin, picked him up in Milwaukee, and they were going to visit a friend. He said he told his cousin to pull over during the pursuit, but was ignored. He said one of the two backpacks found in the car was his, and he admitted to selling marijuana.
Prosecutors say Hughes told investigators he sold marijuana to make money to support his four children, adding that he was out on bail and no one would hire him, "so selling marijuana was his only means of income."
In this case, Hughes pleaded not guilty on Sept. 28. He is due back in Waukesha County court on Oct. 31.
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