Caleb Durig’s death has been ruled a homicide. The boy was eight months old.
During an initial interview, the boy’s mother, Tara Durig, was “visibly upset and seemed concerned about the death of her son.”
She said Jason ran into the room she was and said to call 911 because the baby wasn’t breathing. She had no explanation for any of the boy’s injuries, the report said.
When detectives, believing she was being deceptive, asked her to take a type of lie detector, she refused and asked for an attorney, terminating the interview, the report said.
The report also notes that the couple has another son who is in the custody of Jason Durig’s parents.
Jason Durig served 16 months in prison after he scalded that son with hot water in 2007, when the boy was 1-month-old.
When detectives spoke with Jason Durig, his “main concern from the beginning was whether or not he would be able to see his wife,” the report said.
Jason Durig told detectives he woke up around 9 to 10 a.m. and checked the baby, who was still asleep, lying on his back. Asked about blood, Durig said there was some in the nose, but he didn’t know how much because he didn’t go all the way into the room.
“He just knew that the crustiness had been there for the last few days,” the report said.
Later in the morning, he went to check on the baby and noticed he was cold, Durig told police. He was unable to find a pulse and noticed the boy was not breathing.
Durig said that the ligature marks around the boy’s neck were from a bib and that he did not know where the bite marks on the boy’s face and leg came from.
“The more questions I asked Jason, the more answers of ‘I don’t know’ were received, Tilley wrote.
When police told Durig he would be charged with child endangering, he asked for an attorney and the interview stopped.
“Jason’s only concern again was seeing his wife before he left,” Tilley wrote. “He never asked about Caleb or what was going to happen to Caleb from this point forward.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2057 or lgrieco@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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