A 5-month-old girl was found dead in an east Lawrence apartment Friday, and her father was arrested for her death, Lawrence Police said.
Jay Daniel Decker, 26, was booked into Douglas County Jail on suspicion of felony first-degree murder and abuse of a child.
The girl, Risha J. Lafferty, was pronounced dead after police and Lawrence-Douglas County Fire & Medical responded at 8:20 a.m. Friday to a medical call at the Edgewood Homes apartment complex, 1600 Haskell Ave. The child wasn't breathing and didn't have a pulse, and efforts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful, Police Capt. Dan Affalter said in a statement issued late Friday night.
An autopsy led investigators to conclude that the toddler died from physical abuse, Affalter said. In addition, the injuries the girl suffered were inconsistent with the explanation Decker gave police, which wasn't released, Affalter said.
Edgewood resident Stephen Claypool spent Friday morning wondering why there were so many police cars outside the nearby apartment. At midday he found out when he saw an officer place a small bundle or bag on a stretcher. The stretcher was then loaded into a van.
"That just breaks my heart," Claypool said in an interview Saturday. "Having kids of my own, they mean everything to me."
Stephen Claypool, who lives in apartment 213 in the Edgewood Homes complex, 1600 Haskell Ave., recalls watching police officers remove the body of a deceased child from an adjacent apartment Friday. Detectives later arrested the 5-month-old child's father, Jay Daniel Decker, 26, for felony first-degree murder and abuse of a child. The apartment where the incident occurred is visible at the center of photograph.
Claypool said he didn't know much about the Decker family. He said he'd seen a young girl of about 2 outside the apartment and described her as energetic and happy.
"They just seemed like an ordinary family in Edgewood," Claypool said.
Comments
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lunacydetector (anonymous) says…
what a tragedy. how could someone injure or kill a child? a child completely at the mercy of its parents?
A 5 month old can do no harm, it does not know of harm, so it can mean no harm. It knows not corruption, and cannot yet be corrupt. Malice, guilt, and blame are yet unknown conditions of a 5 month old, so it cannot be held yet accountable for any guilt or any wrong doing.
the same can be said for an unborn infant....thanks lepanto.
LD
sharron5rs (anonymous) says…
A child of 5 months is NOT a toddler.. It is a infant. Unable to care for its self. Cannot feed or crawl by it self. In other words it is helpless. To think that a "man", (and I use that term loosly ) that could harm a infant of this or any age, should be locked away for the rest of his life, and just think of how that small lifeless little body felt in his strong hands.
LocalYocal (anonymous) says…
LD, I like how you related the last line to everything else. People need to know that abortion is no different than this heinous crime. But no, if the baby is inside the womb, it has no right to be protected. I guess its right to be protected and mourned over comes AFTER nine months.
sweetness2 (anonymous) says…
how can you even accuse mister decker without knowing the full story? who is to say the mother didnt have any part in the childs death? do you know the home life? do you know them personally? it was a huge tragedy one that will never be forgotten in either the mother or the fathers lives or the 2year old sister whom will wonder what happend later in life to her sister so why be so harsh without knowing the full story? does it make you all feel better to partronize and accuse without knowing the total story? well none of you will probably ever know the "full story" unless you know the family personally. you are all to quick to rip someone apart . what has happend its very sad and very 'f***ed up. only few people know the truth mister decker risha's mother and god. so until you all meet one of them why cant u just send your condolences and leave the terrible situation to rest. what a terrible tragedy god bless the family and may god help them all to cope with what has happend.
DGL (anonymous) says…
I resent the comparison that a 5 month old infant is the same as a 0-3 month fetus with undeveloped organs the size of a baby hamster. Is this debate really necessary here? Are you a qualified expert on fetus development? No? Please shut up and let the grown-ups read their paper. Thank you.
lunacydetector (anonymous) says…
gee DGL,
compare a 5 month old infant to a 0-9 month old fetus. it's legal to kill the 0-9 month old fetus. they are both genetically human beings regardless of age and appearance. being an expert such as yourself, surely you know i am right.
bearded_gnome (anonymous) says…
Thanks Lunacydetector, you know, you and I were once 0-9 month old womb residents too.
DGL (anonymous) says…
What I was alluding to was that abortion is legal only during the first trimester, hence, LocalYocal's comment that this crime is no different than abortion is outrageous and the debate does not belong here. Bearded_gnome: Hitler, Pol Pot, Ted Bundy, and Timothy McVeigh were also "womb residents."
lizzyp13 (E. Hall) says…
Just like sweetness2 said, for anyone who is already judging...I say good luck to you. Yeah, this world is corrupt, but there is always a story behind the scenes. No one, not even myself knows exactly what has happened. And we all should realize that the news will twist and jump to conclusions. Science and math are NOT always right. Yeah, he might have screwed-up in the past, but the abuse of a child is not in his past. Let's not forget, that this child has passed away. Believe me, Jay, you know the father who determined the creation of Risha, is in pain, and because of the stupidity and hype that the news has to create because junkies soak this stuff up will probably not even get to go to the funeral, say the proper good-bye, and remember the life of his child. Just think about the pain and please get the complete story (which you'll unfortunately probably never get because of the news) before you go off and create more of a stink! Thank-you and please remember that he who has never sinned can go ahead and throw the first stone.
lunacydetector (anonymous) says…
...but DGL, abortion is legal up until birth in every state in the union.
DGL (anonymous) says…
Lunacydetector: Abortion is legal only during the first trimester, per Roe v. Wade. After that, it is legal only if the mother's life is in jeopardy as a result of the pregnancy or delivery.
lizzyp13 (E. Hall) says…
I can't believe that people have turned this into an abortion debate. You're focusing on the "what" not the "who". Her name is Risha and unfortunately she has passed away. There is confusion in her death and something unfair may be happening. Again, her name is Risha.
hollograd (anonymous) says…
I made this same comment on another page on this site. I don't feel the need to enter the abortion debate as I don't see how it fits this case. I happen to be a personal friend of this family, I used to live with Jay over 7 years ago. Jay did not intenionally kill his daughter. We are not allowed to talk to him and the mother will not talk to anyone. There is definetly gaps but Jay's story is that he was asleep on the couch and apparently the mother put Risha on his stomach to sleep with him. He rolled over in his sleep and heard her fall to the floor. When he awoke to see what the sound was, he found her on the floor not breathing. He attempted to shake her and get her to wake up. A previous skull injury the coroner found was a documented injury from when she been dropped accidently by a family member when she threw herself backwards. They took her to the ER at that time. We don't know what happened the mom won't talk. Now a family is mourning not only for the death of a child but because her father may go to jail for life for her murder. We don't know what happened exactly, the only ones who do aren't able to be reached. I thank those who are trying to get this point across. There is always another side to a story. And now not only is Jay dealing with the death of his baby girl, he is on trial. Yes there was a careless mistake made on someones part, this doesn't mean he is an evil person. We are so quick to judge, I would like parents and even those of us who are not to put yourself in his position. He will not be able to attend her funeral or ever say goodbye, he will never forgive himself. We judge because with cases like this it becomes painfully clear how precious and delicate children are. Risha had very loving parents that will never overcome their devastating loss.
hollograd (anonymous) says…
I would also like to add that like many of you what I know is considered gossip too. I don't know exactly what happened. I haven't talked to Jay personally.
squandra (anonymous) says…
For the record, headline writers ... This story was posted long before Decker was charged.
lizzyp13 (E. Hall) says…
I must say, it's great to see that people are starting to notice the fact that there is another side to the story. I do find it weird though, that there are news stations out there, i.e. KCTV 5 news, that feel that they can only survive if they yellow-journalize their news. Their coverage was unjust and well, stupid. Getting neighbors to say that they had no idea, but now that it has happened and because the news says he did it then yeah, that answers a lot of questions. Wow...
sweetness2 (anonymous) says…
its nice to see that at least one other person on this page knows who jay really is and knows the family . its also nice to see all you people backing up my previous statment . justice shall prevail although it seems they are ready to hang jay sort of speak everyone is to dead set on that fact that he did it since the media said it was him . and none of those media people lived in the familys home did they? so how in the hell could they possibly know what happend . god bless you all who are so quick to judge and when it comes down to the end of the wire i hope they find the truth and all of you people who beleived the hype can eat your words . there is no point in makeing this a bigger struggle for everyone . risha is gone there is no bringing her back those of us who know the family know she will be terribly missed and her sister will soemday have to know what happend. so why make the story worse than it is? is there a point? once again thank you all who are supporting finding the truth b4 convicting .