LEBANON, TENNESSEE: A 40-year-old Tennessee father will potentially face life in prison for suffocating his four-month-old daughter due to a fentanyl overdose. Jesse Wayne Craddock reportedly passed out on top of young Harley Kemp Craddock for more than 10 minutes after taking the drug, eventually asphyxiating her to death in 2021.
According to a press release from Lebanon Police Department Chief Mike Justice, officers responded to a 911 call regarding an unresponsive adult male and an unresponsive infant female at the Travel Inn motel located in the 900 block of Murfreesboro Road on April 3 that year. The motel is located just under 30 miles east of Nashville. Besides police, personnel with the Lebanon Fire Department and Wilson County Emergency Management were also dispatched to the address.
Who is Jesse Wayne Craddock?
Jesse Wayne Craddock, 40, suffocated her infant daughter after he passed out on top of her following a drug overdose. A jury in Wilson County found Jesse Wayne Craddock guilty on Thursday, July 20, on a spate of felonies, including first-degree felony murder, aggravated child neglect, and simple possession of fentanyl in the death of Harley, authorities announced. The verdict came following a trial that went on for four days in the presence of Judge Brody Kane.
What did the emergency responders see?
First responders said they located the adult male after arriving at the scene and later identified him as Craddock who was described as “responsive but disoriented". The young female, later identified as Harley, was unconscious and not breathing. Paramedics began performing CPR on Harley immediately before taking her to Vanderbilt Wilson County Hospital via ambulance along with her father.
The infant was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the facility. Craddock was treated by doctors before being handed over to the authorities as he was found to be in possession of “suspected narcotics.”
Harley's mother was at work on the night of the incident
A probe into Harley's death disclosed that Craddock was the infant’s father and was the only one looking after her on the night of April 3 while Harley’s mother was at work. An autopsy performed by the medical examiner determined that Harley’s cause of death was asphyxiation. “After an intensive and thorough investigation involving multiple agencies, Investigators were able to determine that Jesse Wayne Craddock fell on top of the child while under the influence of Fentanyl,” police wrote in the release according to Law and Crime.
Prosecutors said that Craddock was already in prison for a probation violation before being convicted of his daughter’s killing. “The Lebanon Police Department is pleased with the verdict that was handed down today and we appreciate ALL agencies that assisted us in achieving this verdict,” the department said in a Facebook post following Thursday’s verdict. The father is currently scheduled to appear in court again for his hearing in November this year.
