Toddler's Kidnapping Staged By Family To Cover Up His Death: Cops

SAN ANTONIO, TX — A baby whose father reported him as having been kidnapped was found dead Thursday night and police say the kidnapping was staged by the child's family in an attempt to hide what had happened.

At a press conference Thursday night, San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said 8-month-old King Jay Davila's father, grandmother and a cousin of the father's had been charged with tampering with evidence.

"This was a staged kidnapping meant to cover up foul play," McManus said. He added that police believe the trio participated in staging the kidnapping to hide King Jay's body "so that we couldn't find it to determine what happened to him."

According to The San Antonio Express News, Christopher Davila, 34, the boy's father, called police to say the baby was inside a car that someone had stolen from a gas station. Police posted surveillance video of the alleged staged kidnapping from Jan. 4.

McManus said that Davila's grandmother, Beatrice Sampayo, 65, dropped off Davila's cousin, Angie Torres, 45, near the gas station where she took the car. Torres described to police the route the pair took and where they disposed of the car seat, according to McManus. McManus said Torres told police that she learned from Sampayo that King Jay had been severely injured by his father.

Eventually, Davila led police to King Jay's body, McManus said at a Friday press conference. He told police the death was an accident and he panicked and did not call 911, according to McManus.

According to an affidavit obtained by the Express News, Davila told police he had been playing video games on Jan. 3 while King Jay was in a car seat on a bed. At some point the car seat fell over and Davila apparently waited for hours before checking on King Jay to find that he was dead, the paper reported, citing the affidavit.

Davila is charged with injury to child by omission, posession of a firearm, possession of a controlled substance and tampering with evidence, according to online court records. Torres and Sampayo are charged with tampering with evidence.

King Jay's body has been taken to the medical examiner's office where an autopsy will be performed. The case is now a death investigation, McManus said.

The chief said the investigation won't be finished till authorities can answer how exactly King Jay died.

Photo: This undated photo provided by the Bexar County Sheriff's Office in San Antonio, Texas shows Christopher Davila. Photo provided by Bexar County Sheriff's Office via Associated Press