Man kills girlfriend’s 6-month-old baby after mistaking him for a spider

A man has been charged with killing his girlfriend’s six-month-old baby after mistaking him for a spider while asleep.



Dwayne Lindsey, 35, claimed he awoke from a nap with Chayse Dearing on his chest.

Lindsey, who had allegedly been smoking a drug known as ice, said he became startled and mistook the child for a spider, before Chayse rolled to the floor and smashed his head against a heater.

Medical examinations of Chayse show he suffered severe and traumatic injuries to his brain and spinal chord.

Mum Michelle Dearing had left her son alone with Lindsey in their Glenroy home in Victoria, Australia.

She had visited a local supermarket with two friends in the early hours of June 26, 2016.

The Supreme Court in Melbourne heard how Michelle had left her son content in the hands of Lindsey, who had proposed just days before Chayse was found dead.

Hours later, he frantically called Michelle claiming Chayse had stopped breathing, reports The Age.

Michelle said:

“He wouldn’t tell me what was wrong, he wouldn’t say anything. He just kept saying, ‘hurry up, hurry up’.”

The distraught mum also told the court she noticed her son had been changed into a different outfit from the blue jumpsuit she had left him in.

The court also heard how neighbour Brian Woods said he heard a baby crying between 1am and 3am, along with an argument between a man and woman.

At 8am, he then heard a man desperately trying to wake a baby.

Mr Woods said:

“He kept saying, ‘hey you. hey you’. He said it about 60 times.

“He swore once or twice and stamped his foot a couple of times.”

He later told the court he heard the man shout “f*****g c**t” along with what sounded like a distressed phone call.

Th trial continues.