10-month-old Pittsburgh boy allegedly killed by mom's boyfriend remembered as "angel on Earth"
The grandmother of the 10-month-old killed in Pittsburgh's Homewood neighborhood is remembering him as an "angel on Earth."
Dominic Pinnick is facing a list of charges in connection with the boy's death, including criminal attempted homicide and aggravated assault. He is accused of slamming the boy's head into a bedpost last week, injuring the child so badly that doctors had to remove part of his skull in an attempt to save his life. The baby, Najour Matthews, died on Monday.
"They were doing their best to be great parents to that little boy, and I just feel so bad that opportunity was ripped from them," said Letitia Hawkins, Matthews' grandmother.
The 10-month-old boy was the light of his family's lives. They said he impacted them in ways they could have never imagined, calling him their "angel on Earth."
"He was such a little gift," Hawkins said. "He was so precious. He was really a gift from God."
Hawkins said the family was planning the boy's first birthday party next month, but now they are forced to plan his funeral. The man police said was responsible, the 18-year-old Pinnick, was the boyfriend of Matthews' mother.
He allegedly told investigators that he got frustrated when Matthews would not stop crying, so he hit his head on a wooden bed post several times.
"I just miss my nephew so bad," said Taylor Matthews, the victim's aunt. "It wasn't his time to go. It's not fair."
The baby's aunt and grandmother said they got bad vibes from Pinnick and even vocalized that to his mother, but she loved and trusted him.
In addition, they say, he had been alone with the 10-month-old boy before and seemed to truly care for him.
"My fear was he was going to hurt my daughter," Hawkins said. "I never in a million years thought he'd harm my grandson."
The family said they are leaning on one another to push through the tragedy, saying while the boy's birth brought them together, his death is strengthening the bond even more.
"I'm just praying for his soul," Hawkins said. "But justice will be served and vengeance will be mine, saith the Lord. So, we're just leaving it in God's hands."
The family will hold a private memorial service in the coming days and a public balloon release next month.
"He had a fast pass to heaven, and now we just go to do what we need to do to meet him there," Hawkins said.
Pinnick is in the Allegheny County Jail, held without bail. He's due in court next week.
