Fit of rage spurred Portland man to fatally shake infant son, prosecutor says; judge denies bail

A judge denied bail Thursday to a Portland man accused of shaking his baby to death in a fit of rage nearly a year ago.

Dakota Kurtis Means faces two counts of second-degree murder in the death of his son, Hunter Means, who was about 6 weeks old when Dakota Means violently shook him and caused his skull to strike something while the two were alone inside a North Portland apartment last April, prosecutors said.

Hunter died Aug. 23 at Randall Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center after a brain hemorrhage and skull fracture caused him to permanently lose brain function, said Dr. Adebimpe Adewusi, a child abuse pediatrician and medical director for CARES Northwest, the agency that treated Hunter’s injuries.

“The brain injuries were not reversible,” Adewusi said. “He was a victim of child physical abuse and abusive head trauma.”

Adewusi said Hunter’s injuries would have left him instantly unconscious and were too severe to be caused by an accidental fall or by being dropped.

The boy’s mother told investigators she woke up Dakota Means, who was napping after his overnight shift at a convenience store, and asked him to change Hunter’s diaper while she stepped out to smoke a cigarette, Portland Police Bureau Homicide Detective Rico Beniga testified during the hearing.

The mother recalled Means, now 22, asking her to come back inside, saying, “He’s crying, he needs you,” according to a transcript shown in court of an interview she later gave to police.

When she declined to come back inside, Means walked back into the apartment and slammed the sliding door, Multnomah County Deputy District Attorney Melissa Marrero said in court. A few minutes later Means called out to his wife again, Marrero said.

The mother told investigators she went back inside the apartment and discovered her son limp, his breathing imperceptible, Marrero said.

“We know that the last person who saw Hunter is the person who did this,” Marrero said.

The mother called 911 and told dispatchers Means had left with the boy and was running toward Legacy Emanuel Medical Center, which was about six blocks from where they lived at the Songbird apartments on North Williams Avenue.

The woman initially told investigators she could see Means while she was outside smoking, but she changed her story in a follow-up interview, according to excerpts in court.

“(Means) was waiting right outside the interview room… He can read me like a book,” she said, according to the transcript. She told investigators Means had previously been “really physically violent” to her and “treats me like an animal.”

Means had also taken Hunter to Randall Children’s Hospital on April 11, less than a week before he’s accused of inflicting the injuries that killed Hunter, because the couple became concerned the boy was vomiting and changing color, according to Marrero. The prosecutor said Means told his wife doctors determined it was due to a “baby panic attack.”

Adewusi testified that clinicians don’t use such language. She said X-rays taken after the baby had lost consciousness showed healing rib fractures that could have been the cause.

Means had been alone with his son when the boy began showing signs of distress in that incident, Marrero said.

Evidence of healing rib fractures was also found on the couple’s 1-year-old son, Marrero said. That child is part of a separate child custody case.

Public defender Russell Barnett argued there wasn’t enough evidence to prove the existence of Hunter’s rib fractures and said the boy could have been injured well before his signs of brain injury became visible.

“This case absolutely terrifies me,” Barnett said in court. “Someone can do the best that they can … and be charged with murder.”

Means texted his wife before he was arrested, saying he was worried about being charged with manslaughter, according to a transcript shown in court.

“You running away make it look like you did something,” she replied, according to court exhibits. “Whatever feelings you have for law enforcement, put them aside for our children.”

Hunter was the youngest of at least 92 people killed in Portland homicides last year.

Means will remain in the downtown Multnomah County Justice Center without bail, Multnomah County Circuit Judge David Reeves ruled Thursday. No trial date has been set.