Father Says He Didn’t Blind His Infant Son

Still under investigation as the prime suspect in the blinding of his 4-month-old son, a 21-year-old Ventura man on Wednesday denied ever hurting his boy and said he hopes to regain custody of him.

Don Ray Boyd was released from Ventura County Jail late Tuesday because the district attorney’s office did not file charges against him in the time required by law after his arrest. However, Sheriff’s Department officials said Boyd is still the main suspect.

Boyd, who works for a Ventura-based hauling company, was at work Wednesday morning but said his mind was on his only child, Jacob.

“I’m just so upset now,” said Boyd, a muscular, blond man whose eyes welled up with tears when thinking about his child. “It makes me sick worrying about him.”

The baby, who turned 4 months old Tuesday, remains in critical condition at Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, said hospital spokeswoman Maria Iacobo.

He has two detached retinas and will be permanently blind, Iacobo said.

The Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, which is continuing the investigation, said Boyd had been watching the baby for nine hours Thursday while his girlfriend, 20-year-old Cynthia Payne, was at work.

When Payne returned from work at 6 p.m., she discovered that the child was lethargic and having problems with his eyes, said Sgt. Dee Bryce of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. Payne and a neighbor took the baby to Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, where doctors determined that there was a child-abuse-related injury, Bryce said.

The Sheriff’s Department was notified, and deputies arrested Boyd Friday at 1:50 a.m., Bryce said.

But Boyd said he never abused the child.

“I never harmed my little boy at all,” Boyd said. “That’s something uncalled for.”

Boyd said the baby had been sick for several days with a cold and Payne had been administering medication.

“He wasn’t acting right or even looking right” two days before the baby was taken to the hospital, Boyd said.

Boyd said he was not that concerned because Payne did not seem to be worried.

When he was baby-sitting last Thursday, he said, he thought that the child was unusually tired but believed that it might be due to too much medication.

“It’s my first little boy,” he said. “I had no experience, no idea what was wrong.”

But he said he grew worried because the baby continued sleeping all day.

He tried to contact his mother and neighbors but could not reach anyone. About the time Payne returned home from work, the baby started having little seizures, Boyd said.

“His whole body was shaking, even his toes,” he said.

Payne took the child to the hospital, telling Boyd to stay home and answer the phone, he said.

She later called to say doctors believed that someone had dropped or hit the baby, Boyd said. She called again, telling him the child was being transferred to Childrens Hospital, he said.

Boyd said he did not go with Payne to see the baby in Los Angeles because her father, who was angry at Boyd, was driving her.

Boyd said he believes that his girlfriend might have dropped the baby and not said anything to anyone because she did not want the baby taken away from her.

But Detective Susan Salmon of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said that Boyd remains the main suspect in the case and that Payne is not a suspect at this time.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Frawley said charges were not filed against Boyd for several reasons.

The investigation is still continuing to determine who might be responsible for inflicting injuries on the child, he said. Officials are looking into when the injuries may have been inflicted to determine whether the baby could have been hurt before Thursday, when Boyd was caring for the child, he said.

In addition, Frawley said the district attorney’s office is unsure of what charges to file at this point since it is hard to say whether the child will live or die.

Friends and neighbors said Boyd was a proud father.

His boss, Terry Kessler, said he knows that Boyd did not hurt the child and thinks the Sheriff’s Department should have investigated more before arresting Boyd.

“I think they may have jumped the gun a little bit,” he said.

Boyd said he would love to see the child, but a restraining order has been issued that prohibits him from approaching within 10 feet of the hospital or seeing Payne, whom he has dated for 14 months.

Boyd said he is concerned about the child’s welfare and would like to gain custody of the baby. The child is now in the custody of the state, officials said.

Boyd said the baby’s illness came just months after Boyd’s father died of cancer. His father’s death was extremely difficult, Boyd said.

“If something happened to Jacob, I don’t know what I’d do,” he said.