Father arrested in death of toddler found unconscious at South LA motel

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A father was taken into custody Wednesday in connection with the death of his 18-month-old son who was found unconscious at a South Los Angeles motel, police say.

Authorities were called to the Rosa Bell Motel at 5606 S. Western Avenue around 11:10 a.m. Tuesday for a death investigation involving a child. Responding officers and paramedics found the child, later identified as Dee'ago Alexander Jones, unconscious and not breathing.

The child was transported to a local hospital and later pronounced dead.

The boy's father, 23-year-old Shane Zachery Flowers, was booked Wednesday on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death, the Los Angeles Police Department told Eyewitness News Thursday morning. Flowers was initially named a person of interest in the death of his child.

Flowers, whose bail is set at $100,000, is set to be arraigned Friday.

The boy's mother -- who said she was asleep Tuesday when Flowers woke her up to tell her Dee'ago was hurt -- spoke to Eyewitness News in an emotional interview before Flowers' arrest.

"I don't know why he would run from this situation and just leave us there. And not come back," said a sobbing Ryanna Jones. "He didn't even call to make sure he was even alive or OK...I just want him put away."

The three of them were living at the motel as part of a program that offers shelter to homeless families with children.

Jones said when she woke up Tuesday morning, Flowers told her their son wasn't breathing. He said he had given him some medicine to help him sleep but then was unable to revive him. He used cold water to try to wake him up, he told her, and also tried CPR.

Jones said Flowers had been violent with the boy in the past.

Her son, she said, was a sweet, happy child.

"He was a happy baby," Jones said. "He didn't deserve any of this."

An examination to determine the boy's cause of death is pending.