Mom, boyfriend arrested after 2-year-old girl's death ruled homicide

Mother, boyfriend charged in 2-year-old's death

Pierce County deputies arrested a mother and her boyfriend after a 2-year-old girl's death was ruled homicide.

PARKLAND, Wash. - A 2-year-old girl is dead, and her mother is behind bars.

Pierce County deputies found the child dead inside a home in Parkland on 129th Street South near Pacific Avenue following a 911 call just after 8 a.m.

Deputies learned that the mother’s boyfriend, 29-year-old Augustino Maile, had a no-contact order due to a previous abuse investigation. He initially lied about his name, and date of birth. He was taken into custody that day.

Jharmaine Baker, 21, was arrested on Sunday.

Both are facing murder in the second-degree charges. Maile is also facing a homicide by abuse charge.

Baker is being held on a $3 million bond, while Maile is being held on a $5 million bond.

The judge said neither is to have any contact with the other children they had been raising. Baker cried over video conference as the judge explained the seriousness of the charges, and his orders telling her: "Those orders mean absolutely no contact. None. Don’t wave your hand at your children. Don’t send them a birthday card."

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Despite claims by Maile that the child was clumsy, and fell a lot, a medical examiner concluded that the child’s injuries were indicative of abuse, including blunt force trauma to the head. She also had cuts, abrasions and lacerations in various places along with bruising on her face, arms, sides, backside, hands and her feet.

The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, indicating that the cause of death was some sort of blunt force trauma to her head between March 1–11.

Investigators learned that Maile and Baker had concerns about their daughter for at least a day before they called 911.

Baker’s phone was searched as part of the investigation, it unveiled that someone began googling various concerns starting on March 10 just after 9 p.m., and increased in seriousness up until a final search at 3:09 a.m. the following morning when someone searched "how to help a child wake up."

The call to 911 wasn’t made until March 12, when Baker told deputies that her child was on her back and that her lips had turned blue. After the girl died, the pair told investigators that they had discussed taking her to the hospital but didn’t out of concerns of "allegations."

Maile told deputies a number of incidents including slamming a door shut on the girl’s forearms, her hitting her head on a table, and dropping her—describing her as a clumsy child. However, he was still under that no-contact order which should have prevented him from being around to witness any of those moments. A medical examiner said the injuries didn’t match Maile’s story.

FOX 13 News reached out to the Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families to inquire about the home visits, and when a CPS worker had last seen the girl. They declined to comment citing "privacy laws" on case-specific details.

According to the DCYF policy, cases open beyond 60 days involving children 5-years-old or younger require two monthly visits. However, a timeline of visits is not known without DCYF’s response.

When the 2-year-old was first part of an investigation in April 2021, it was determined she had injuries to her head, face, sternum, abdomen, ears, inner thighs, backside and feet. A doctor at Seattle Children’s also noticed what appeared to be bite marks.