Las Vegas parent searched how to do CPR before 2-year-old found dead in dumpster: ‘I said no more whoopings’

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Prosecutors suspect a parent of a child found deceased in a dumpster searched how to perform CPR in the hours before a police officer made the gruesome discovery, according to documents the 8 News Now Investigators reviewed.

As the 8 News Now Investigators first reported, Diaja Smith, 23, regained custody of 2-year-old Jacoby Robinson Jr. and his two younger siblings just weeks before the boy’s death on June 6.

Police suspect Jacoby died earlier in the day before Smith allegedly put his body in the dumpster near Lewis Avenue and 14th Street, documents said. She then called 911, claiming Jacoby was missing, police said.

Police arrested Smith on a charge of open murder the next day. Police also arrested Jacoby’s father, Jacoby Robinson Sr., 24. A Clark County grand jury indicted the parents on murder and child abuse charges last week.

Smith and Robinson share five children, including Jacoby and the two younger siblings, records said. The Clark County Department of Family Services recorded three prior contacts with the family.

Documents previously indicated Jacoby had a twin, though court records said that information was incorrect and the boy is actually a year younger. The two older children are no longer in the parents custody, family said.

Police located Jacoby’s body inside the dumpster less than five hours after Smith called 911, saying someone took him from a park. Police said the boy’s body showed “significant signs of physical injury to [his] head, torso and buttocks,” documents said. Prosecutors suspect Jacoby died earlier that day and that Smith transported his deceased body in a stroller with his siblings to the dumpster. She then went to a store to call 911, prosecutors said.

“You’re looking at whip marks across his chest and then scratches and abrasions to the top of his forehead and these are all in various stages of healing,” a Clark County Family Services investigator told the grand jury about Jacoby’s injuries.

Prosecutors suspect Smith placed Jacoby’s body in the dumpster just after 8 p.m., documents said. Around 12:44 p.m., someone used the elder Robinson’s phone to search for how to perform CPR, documents said. A person then looked for bus tickets from Las Vegas to Los Angeles and called using the device.

Inside Smith’s apartment, police said they found remnants of a charging cord detectives believe she used to whip the children, documents said. Police said Smith told them she had not seen Robinson Sr. in a while, but that in reality, he was in and out of the apartment, documents said.

Police suspect Smith beat the boys with a belt and power cords, documents said. Smith denied ever hitting the children and said Jacoby had suffered a seizure the day before his death, documents said. She also said Jacoby was deceased while in the stroller in video surveillance.

Prosecutors also alleged that Robinson was with the child after the beating and saw the child throwing up and helped Jacoby get vomit out of his mouth and nose before he went back to sleep.

“Initially Jacoby, when we told him that Jacoby, Jr. was deceased and that we had located his body, he said that he didn’t believe that he was deceased but ultimately he said he had woken that morning to hear her beating Jacoby and Jacoby was crying,” a Metro police detective told the grand jury about his interview with the father. “He initially said he saw [Smith] whooping him with a belt, later changed that it was a charging cord and that at some point she did call him in to perform CPR.”

Smith sent a letter to Robinson Sr. from jail where she revealed non-public information about the murder, prosecutors said.

“I feel so bad because I feel like I wasn’t doing the same for you, I was just on autopilot trying not to crash,” a detective read from the letter to the grand jury, according to transcripts. “[Expletive], why didn’t I listen when I said no more whoopings when you told me to stop whooping the kids. I really hope you can forgive me. Love deep down I really do. I cherished every moment with you. I wish I cooked us one last meal. I’m sorry I wasn’t thinking right.”

Robinson and Smith have denied the 8 News Now Investigators’ requests for interviews from jail.

Both parents remained jailed without bail as of Wednesday ahead of an August court date.

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