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Tom Callan and Courtney Orton reportingAn Ogden father has confessed to suffocating his 3-month-old son. It happened while the infant's mother was at work.
Police say the 27-year-old father called his wife at work and said something was wrong with the baby. She told him to call 911 and then raced home from work, which was just a few blocks away. But when she got home and emergency crews arrived at the residence they were living in on 23rd Street in Ogden, the 3-month-old infant was already dead.
Police questioned both parents but say the 27-year-old father, David Grant Swapp, confessed. "Questioning revealed the fact that the father deliberately caused the infant's demise by placing the baby on his face and exerting pressure until the baby stopped breathing," explained Lt. Tony Fox, with the Ogden Major Crimes Bureau.
The baby was taken to McKay-Dee Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. The baby's father was arrested, but police did not say if he told them why he suffocated the infant.
"Infants can be frustrating for parents. It's just a shame that nobody caught this, the fact that the child was just too much for this father to handle, and this is what the end result was," Fox said.
Police say the Swapps were struggling financially. They were being assisted by Your Community Connection (YCC) and lived in transitional housing.
YCC says they are saddened by the death of the baby and are providing help to the family as needed.
David Swapp was booked into the Weber County Jail. No formal charges have been filed yet, and Ogden police do not believe Swapp has any prior history of child abuse.
Swapp was booked into jail but has not been formally charged.
E-mail: tcallan@ksl.com
E-mail: corton@ksl.com
