Father charged with murder in Milford motel bathtub drowning of infant girl
Dale Kirkland was charged today with murder with special circumstances because of the victim's age, along with murder and risk of injury to a child.
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A Bridgeport father, who was arrested in connection with his infant daughter’s death over the summer, is now accused of intentionally causing it.
Dale Kirkland had no reaction in Milford Superior Court Tuesday as Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Howard Stein announced new charges of murder with special circumstances, murder and risk of injury to a minor in the death of a baby girl found in a motel bathtub.
Stein said the decision came after he received the final report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner on how the 3-month-old died. According to Stein’s new filing, Kirkland intentionally drowned his daughter at the Mayflower Motel in Milford on Aug. 21.
The infant’s mother and other relatives remotely attended the hearing, during which Judge Kevin Russo also granted a request from Kirkland’s attorney that his client undergo a competency evaluation. Kirkland’s sister and another loved one were at the hearing but declined to comment after court.
Kirkland was initially charged with cruelty to persons and risk of injury to a minor, but prosecutors said from the start that more charges were expected. An autopsy did not immediately determine cause of death, so further studies were needed, said an OCME spokesperson in August.
On the morning in question, Milford police responded to the motel after a member of the cleaning staff went into a vacated room and discovered the infant “completely submerged underwater,” according to Kirkland’s arrest warrant. Police said initially, the staff member noticed baby clothes, bags and a car seat had been left behind. Then, when she went into the bathroom, she saw a child’s bathing tub inside the bathtub and a baby inside the smaller tub, who was “submerged with her face under the water,” the warrant said. She was wearing a onesie and had no visible signs of trauma, according to the warrant.
Police said first responders attempted lifesaving measures on scene, but the infant was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Surveillance video confirmed Kirkland checked into the motel the night before with his daughter and brought the same child's bathing tub she was later found in, according to the warrant. It also said when Kirkland checked out, he wore sunglasses and a black mask. During Kirkland’s arraignment, prosecutors alleged he left in a disguise.
Police arrested him several hours later in Bridgeport.
The warrant also included information from another motel guest, who told police she saw Kirkland and his daughter during a previous stay at the motel about a week before. That person said Kirkland had appeared disheveled and his daughter was dirty with a dirty diaper, according to the warrant. She also told police Kirkland was asking for cigarettes and “unknown drugs,” the warrant said.
According to court records, Kirkland was seeking full custody of his daughter due to the mother’s health and had notified the state Department of Children and Families of the situation. DCF officials confirmed they had been involved with the family for about a month prior to the baby's death, and said they are now conducting an investigation into what happened.
Kirkland is being held on $1 million bond. He has no prior criminal history.
His next court appearance is set for Jan. 7.
