San Francisco man charged with killing child in his care

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – A San Francisco man was charged Monday with murder for killing a 7-month-old boy who was in his care.

Joseph Williams was charged with the murder and assault of a fatal child, according to a statement from the San Francisco District Attorney.

Williams had babysat the child, identified only as Baby S., on April 20, authorities said.

He took the boy to a hospital later that day.

The baby died of traumatic head injuries caused by blunt force, prosecutors said. No details were given.

The boy wasn’t related to Williams, prosecutors said.

Williams had two previous domestic violence arrests against a friend who was not the mother of the boy who had died.

However, no charges were brought after the woman told police that she had started the fighting – once after breaking into his home – and refused to bring charges, according to the prosecutor’s office.

That would have made it impossible to prove the cases beyond doubt, the office said.

“We believe the available facts of these two cases supported the decision not to bring charges, but that is not enough,” the DA office said in the statement. “In the face of this tragedy, we will review all policies related to domestic violence charges, including talking to our law enforcement partners, to ensure we are all using best practices to obtain admissible evidence and assist the victims.”