Police: Marysville father killed baby by suffocating her on bed

Jul 27, 2023

The 4-month-old girl’s father and mother were arrested for investigation of murder, but charges against the mother were dropped Monday.

MARYSVILLE — A father of three smothered his baby to death Saturday because she was “crying so loud his ears couldn’t take it,” according to a Marysville detective’s report.

Police arrested the infant’s father, Bailey Bulger, for investigation of domestic violence murder in the second degree and domestic violence homicide by abuse. The infant’s mother also was arrested and held in jail overnight, facing the same charges. However, prosecutors dropped the case against the mother at a court hearing Monday.

Around 11:30 p.m. Saturday, police responded to a 911 call because the infant wasn’t breathing in the 900 block of Columbia Avenue, according to a report written by Marysville detective Alaina Perry.

The 4-month-old girl was pronounced dead at the scene.

The girl’s father told officers it was all his fault, Perry wrote in her report.

Bulger reportedly told police he was a horrible father and that he should go to prison. He had put his daughter facedown on the bed, as he had done “30 to 40” times in the past, though he knew he “shouldn’t have,” according to the report.

The father, 26, told investigators he held her facedown for about two minutes.

The man’s daughter had gas problems. To relieve the gas, he claimed, he would hold her down, he told detectives. The father reported his daughter was crying so hard he was worried someone would call Child Protective Services. The agency had been called on them “so many times,” but they had never had their children taken away, according to the police report.

Bulger told police the baby got tired and went to sleep. The father left her on the bed, and watched the TV show Hell’s Kitchen in his bedroom for the next hour, police wrote.

Bulger and his fiancée checked on their daughter. He noticed she was cold to the touch. The man “seemed horrified” and called 911 immediately, according to the police report. The mother began chest compressions on the infant using her fingers.

The father agreed to come to the police department to speak with detectives. He said he “can’t believe he is a murderer,” and was stressed about becoming homeless, detectives wrote.

Bulger and his fiancée, 25, had reportedly been together for seven years. They shared three children together. He was stressed about bills. They were being evicted from their apartment because they owed around $4,000 in rent, according to the report. He told detectives he had “no one to rely on.”

Bulger demonstrated to detectives how he would place his daughter facedown, holding his hand over the back of her head.

His fiancée reportedly would tell him he needed to be careful because their daughter had to breathe. She told Bulger “several times” she didn’t like it when he did that, detectives wrote.

In the interview, he made comments about “not deserving the kids” and that they were “wonderful,” according to the report.

After interviewing the mother at the police station, police also arrested her for investigation of murder. The couple’s two other children were transferred to the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

A police report noted detective Perry objected to the mother’s release from jail saying she was present for the assault, saw nothing wrong with it and made no attempt to stop it.

At the mother’s bail hearing Monday, prosecutors asked the court to release her. Everett District Court Commissioner Jennifer Millett accepted the recommendation.

“Homicide by abuse and second-degree murder within these frameworks require a substantial amount of showings that we just do not have at this point in time,” deputy prosecutor Julia Hartnell said.

The mother was expected to be released from jail, but remained in custody as of Monday afternoon.

“As with any homicide investigation, it is continually being investigated all the way up through trial or other disposition,” a Marysville police spokesperson wrote via email.

At his bail hearing, Bulger kept his head in his hands, visibly distraught as the case was discussed. The commissioner found probable cause for both counts. Millett set bail at $25,000.

“He exercised extreme indifference to the life of the child,” Millett said.

Jonathan Tall: 425-339-3486; [email protected]; Twitter: @EDHJonTall.

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