LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — The parents of a two-year-old boy found deceased in a dumpster face additional child abuse charges related to another child, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.
Diaja Smith, 23; and Jacoby Robinson Sr., 24, are each charged with seven additional counts of child abuse resulting in substantial bodily harm, records said. A grand jury originally indicted the pair on a murder charge connected to the death of their son, Jacoby Robinson Jr., and a single child abuse charge related to a younger child.
Police suspect Smith and Robinson killed Jacoby on June 6 before Smith allegedly put his body in the dumpster near Lewis Avenue and 14th Street. Smith then called 911, claiming Jacoby was missing and that someone took him from a park.
Smith and Robinson share five children, including Jacoby and his two younger siblings, records said. The Clark County Department of Family Services recorded three prior contacts with the family.
A Clark County Family Services investigator who spoke with Smith after she reported Jacoby missing and noted the younger boy “had injures to his face and neck,” court transcripts said. Smith told the investigator the boy, who was not even two years old, fell off a bike.
The investigator later told the grand jury the child had “whip marks” all over his body, documents said.
Police suspect Smith beat Jacoby and his younger brother with a belt and power cords, documents said. Smith denied ever hitting the children and said Jacoby had suffered a seizure the day before his death, documents said.
In an interview with the 8 News Now Investigators in July, Robinson denied involvement and blamed Smith. Robinson claimed he was trying to come up with a plan to leave with his children but also said he did not know about the severity of the abuse.
Photos the 8 News Now Investigators obtained show bruises and scars on both Jacoby’s body and his younger brother’s. Prosecutors note the boys did not have any injuries in photos taken of them in the months prior — when the boys were in the care of family services.
Smith sent a letter to Robinson Sr. from jail earlier this summer where she revealed non-public information about the murder, prosecutors said.
“I feel so bad because I feel like I wasn’t doing the same for you, I was just on autopilot trying not to crash,” a detective read from the letter to the grand jury, according to transcripts. “[Expletive], why didn’t I listen when I said no more whoopings when you told me to stop whooping the kids. I really hope you can forgive me. Love deep down I really do. I cherished every moment with you. I wish I cooked us one last meal. I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking right.”
Robinson’s two oldest children live in Texas, he said. Records the 8 News Now Investigators obtained show Smith regained custody of the three younger children, including Jacoby, in April.
Both Smith and Robinson remained in jail as of Thursday without bail. Their next court appearance was scheduled for Sept. 4.
