Nevada dad accused of throwing newborn baby off balcony during argument

The infant’s mother claims Clarence Martin, Jr. suffered from ‘mental issues.’

Oct 28, 2020

A two-month old is gone too soon.

A newborn was allegedly thrown from the second-floor balcony by her father on Saturday around 4 a.m. in Las Vegas. Clarence Martin, Jr. was arguing with the infant’s mother, Nicole Poole, when he snatched her away to the balcony of their apartment and didn’t return with her moments later, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

When Poole discovered that her fiancée had not returned with the baby she ran to get her and then called 911. When officers arrived at the scene they discovered a neighbor performing CPR on the baby who eventually passed away due to blunt force trauma.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the baby’s funeral costs.

The page reads:

“It is with extreme sadness our family is needing to reach out, so we can properly bury our precious 7-week old baby girl London. We were completely blindsided and are still in shock this is even a reality. Our sweet London was horrifically taken from us, and all at once, all our lives have been changed forever.

Our beloved daughter, little sister, granddaughter and niece was born August 26, 2020. Her life was tragically cut short in the early morning of October 24th, 2020.”

According to the Las Vegas Journal-Review, Poole told police Martin suffered from “mental issues” and had not slept in days and had not eaten.

Reports say the argument started between the couple, who had been together four years, when Martin entered the bedroom and began kicking Poole and baby London. Poole took the baby into the living room but Martin followed and that’s when he snatched the baby away and went to the balcony.

Martin fled in Poole’s Mercedes Benz before the police arrived but not before he also allegedly started a fire inside the apartment that killed the family dog, which was found dead inside of its cage.

After crashing the car several times in his escape, police ultimately located Martin on the tarmac of McCarran International airport wearing a TSA security shirt, which he swiped from a break room. He had reportedly crawled into the baggage conveyor belt and into a secure area of the airport, according to an airport employee.

Martin is being charged with first-degree arson, torture of an animal and battery on a protected person and open murder.

Have you subscribed to theGrio’s podcast “Dear Culture”? Download our newest episodes now!

TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!