Mother charged in death of 4-year-old son in West Philadelphia

The mother of a 4-year-old boy and a 30-year-old man have been charged with murder after the child went missing from West Philadelphia, authorities said.

Investigators have not located Damari Carter’s body; however, his mother, 28-year-old Dominique Bailey, of Overbrook, admitted to her involvement in the boy’s death, according to police.

While searching a property on the 3800 block of Reno Street in Mantua in connection with the investigation, authorities arrested Kevin Spencer, and court records indicate that charges against him were filed Sunday.

In addition to murder, Bailey and Spencer have each been charged with conspiracy, child endangerment, abuse of a corpse, evidence tampering and other crimes, according to court documents.

The circumstances surrounding Damari’s killing remained unclear Sunday.

PPD’s Special Victims Unit began investigating Damari’s whereabouts Dec. 30 after receiving information from a media outlet, officials said.

Bailey, investigators say, allegedly told family members that Damari had been killed in a car crash, but detectives found no evidence of such an incident. She was brought in for questioning Thursday, police said.

Damari’s father, Darryle Carter Jr., said he was informed of the supposed crash between Christmas and New Year’s Day and called local medical examiner’s offices, none of which had any record of the child.

Carter, a 42-year-old military veteran, lived with Dominique in Killeen, Texas, before their divorce. He told Metro he remained involved in his child’s life – until April 2023, when the three met up at a park. That was the last time he saw Damari.

“While I was driving away, driving on my way home, I just had this bad feeling,” he said.

Bailey skipped town with Damari, settling with her father in Philadelphia, Carter said. She had cut off communication with him, but he attempted to keep track of her through relatives.

Carter said he filed a missing persons report in Texas and was connected with law enforcement in Philadelphia and Delaware County. Not long after, he heard that Bailey was in custody.

At any time, Carter would have been happy and able to care for Damari, he said.

“I got nothing but good memories of my son, and it’s sad that he had to go through that,” he said. “He didn’t deserve that. He was an angel. He was like a mini version of me.”

The Philadelphia Department of Human Services did not respond Sunday when asked if child protection staff had ever had any contact with Damari, Bailey or Spencer.

Though nearly all defendants charged with murder are held without bail, Bailey’s bond was set at 10% of $1 million, court records show. The Defender’s Association, which is representing her, did not respond to a request for comment Sunday.

Spencer was on probation at the time of his arrest, in connection with a 2021 sentence in a Delaware County case related to the illegal transfer of a gun. He was denied bail. Spencer’s legal representation could not be identified through court documents Sunday.