Woman accused of coaxing boyfriend to smother his 3-month-old son

A St. Louis, Missouri, woman was charged with first-degree murder on Friday for allegedly persuading her boyfriend to suffocate his own infant son.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that police recovered texts indicating that Emily Paul, 27, “aided and encouraged the suffocation death” of Ayden Baker by his father, Jibri, 23. Jibri allegedly pushed his son’s head into a pillow for several minutes until he stopped moving. When he realized that didn’t take, the 23-year-old pinched the baby’s nose and covered his mouth until he died, the St. Louis Circuit Attorney’s Office claimed.

Jibri was charged with first-degree murder a day after the April 8 slaying. However, police who carried out a search warrant of the suspect’s phone found he contacted Baker after allegedly killing Ayden but before calling the cops. The search warrant obtained by the Post-Dispatch stated that Paul sent her boyfriend information about conjugal visits in prison.

The warrant claimed that the girlfriend was “vague in her responses and attempted to deceive the detectives by initially denying specific contact with Baker.”

Erin Rideout and Jibri had two children together and split shortly before Ayden’s birth. Rideout and Jibri, who were in a relationship for three years, shared custody of their boys. Erin’s sister Mary Rideout told the paper that Baker had custody the weekend of Ayden’s murder. Mary said her sister rushed to her ex’s residence the morning of April 8 but the ambulance had already taken the slain infant away.

Ayden’s aunt described Jibri as a quiet father-of-two who was good with his sons. She maintained that he gave no indication that he would harm his son.

A GoFundMe was created on April 8 to help the Rideout family pay for the 3-month-old’s funeral expenses.

Jibri is jailed on a $500,000 cash-only bond. The Post-Dispatch noted that Paul was not in custody on Friday. However, her bail was set at $400,000.

[Featured Image: Baker family via St. Louis Post-Dispatch]