'It’s been horrible': Father describes learning about infant son's shaken baby death

ATLANTA - A Cherokee County couple is facing charges in connection with a one-year-old baby's death. One of those charged is the child's mother.

Gregory Davis and Amber Ellis are being held at the Cherokee County jail. Investigators said Davis violently shook Ellis's baby. 

"I’m speechless," the baby’s father Kewin Palacio told FOX 5.

Palacio showed the tiny urn where his son’s ashes remain.

"I don’t know how to put into words I feel," the father said.

Baby James died in April. He was just a year old.

"He was a very happy kid. He was always smiling—always laughing," Palacio recalled.

He said his heart sank the moment he got that dreadful call.

"That was the worst phone call of my life," he said.

Ellis is his ex-girlfriend and the baby’s mother. She and Davis, her current boyfriend, were indicted on Monday in the baby’s death.

"It’s been horrible," he said adding that the last few months have been agonizing. "They’ve been the worst time of my life."

Investigators said Davis violently shook Little James causing a fractured skull and vertebrae. The baby died a few days later.

"I’m relieved that they’re being held accountable," he said.

The indictment states Ellis left the baby in the care of Davis knowing the child was being injured.

Palacio was estranged from his son. He said he believed his son was being abused and tried to report it. 

"I felt helpless—because I couldn’t do anything," he said.

Palacio spent Wednesday picking up his son’s ashes.

"I was expecting today to go and pick up a child –and I got handed an urn," he said.

He said it will make the coming holidays difficult.

"Not just this Thanksgiving but every holiday—is going to dread for me—know that I had a baby in my arms not too long ago. I’m never going to see that baby grow up," he said.

Davis is charged with malice-murder. Ellis is charged with second-degree murder. Both face child cruelty charges. 

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