Philadelphia's Missing 4-Year-Old Damari Carter Found Dead

Damari Carter Philadelphia tragedy missing child found dead duffel bag discovery

By E.Baloyo , Parent Herald May 03, 08:49 am

Photo: (Photo : Drew Hallowell / Getty Images)

Philadelphia's missing 4-year-old has been found in a newly reported duffle bag discovery.

A small child's body was discovered in a duffel bag and has been positively identified as that of a 4-year-old boy who vanished last year. Police authorities indicate that the child was fatally assaulted while his mother was looking on.

The remains of Damari Carter, in an advanced state of decomposition, were stumbled upon by a worker clearing an alley strewn with garbage in West Philadelphia on March 18.

Despite the passage of time since his disappearance, the identity of the deceased child remained unknown until recently.

Missing 4-Year-Old Child Found Dead in Duffle Bag

The news of Damari's tragic fate has sent shockwaves through the family, with his mother, Dominique Bailey, and her boyfriend, Kevin Spencer, now facing charges including murder and abuse of a corpse in connection with the child's death.

"I'm just glad that his remains were found," expressed Nakia Bailey, the boy's aunt, during a press briefing. "Because that was sitting not so well with any of the family, us not knowing where he was. "We're still trying to wrap our heads around this situation happening at all," she added.

Law enforcement was alerted to the situation on March 13 while responding to an incident in Mantua, where a worker directed them to a duffel bag containing the "severely decomposed" remains of a child, as detailed in a statement from the Philadelphia Police Department.

The child's gender and age were initially indiscernible, prompting authorities to transport the body to the medical examiner's office for identification purposes.

Confirmation of the child's identity as Damari came from the criminalistics lab on April 3, marking a significant development in the case.

The Philadelphia police's special victims unit launched an investigation on December 30, 2023, following leads from a media report about a missing child in West Philadelphia.

During their inquiries, authorities encountered conflicting information, with the child's mother, Dominique Bailey, 28, initially telling family members that Damari had been fatally injured in a vehicular accident. However, investigators uncovered no evidence supporting this narrative.

On January 4, Bailey was brought in for questioning, leading to a subsequent search of her residence the following day, during which her boyfriend, Kevin Spencer, 30, was arrested and interrogated.

4-Year-Old Boy's Parents Admitting to the Crime

According to authorities, Dominique Bailey disclosed her involvement in Damari's death on January 5 but did not provide details of what she and Spencer did to his body.

Both Bailey and Spencer are facing serious charges, including murder and endangering the welfare of a child.

Bailey's confession reportedly detailed how she witnessed Spencer brutally beat her son on December 7, causing him to lose consciousness with visible injuries. She admitted that this wasn't the first instance of abuse.

On the day of Damari's tragic death, Bailey and Spencer left the apartment briefly, leaving the child unconscious.

Upon their return, they found him unresponsive. Bailey recounted that Spencer placed the lifeless body in a chair in the living room. Later that evening, Bailey discovered that Damari was cold to the touch, indicating his passing.

Allegedly, Spencer disposed of Damari's body among garbage, leading to a futile search by police in January. It wasn't until a recent discovery by a worker that the grim truth surfaced.

Nakia Bailey, Damari's aunt, expressed an ongoing struggle in processing her sister's alleged actions. She lamented the loss of Damari's innocence and the devastation of never witnessing his growth. The search for Damari's body, while exhaustive, ended with authorities concluding that it was likely lost in the city's waste disposal system.