A Birmingham man has been convicted of a lesser charge in the blunt force death of his girlfriend’s young child.
Christopher Eugene Knight, 39, was initially charged with capital murder in the 2020 slaying of 1-year-old Jayden McGee.
A Jefferson County jury on Friday found Knight guilty of reckless manslaughter.
Knight was initially arrested in March 2020 and indicted the following year on charges of capital murder and felony murder.
The Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office in November 2023 filed a motion dismissing the capital murder charge, which was granted. The felony murder indictment in the case remained.
Following the dismissal of the capital murder charge, Knight was released on bond from the Jefferson County Jail after being held for three years and eight months.
Jayden, who had just turned 1, was rushed to Children’s of Alabama Saturday, March 7, 2020, after he became unresponsive and had trouble breathing.
Doctors there, as well as a subsequent autopsy, found severe head injuries. The boy remained on life support until Tuesday, March 10, 2020, when the support was removed. He was pronounced dead a short time later.
Jayden’s mother was at work and the boy was in the care of Knight when the man called her to tell her that the child was barely breathing. It was about 7:30 a.m. and Natasha McGee left her job at UAB and rushed to the home at 1100 Huffman Road.
McGee grabbed Jayden and put him in the car to take him to the hospital, but realized she needed to call paramedics instead.
“He was alive, but he wasn’t saying anything,’’ she previously told AL.com. “He was fighting to breathe. I knew he was still alive, but he wasn’t alert.”
Once at the hospital, doctors told McGee that Jayden had suffered a fractured skull and had a blood clot.
Jayden was playful and full of life.
“He touched so many people’s hearts,’’ she said in 2020. “He just loved to play. He would smile and just brighten up your day.”
Knight’s trial began Monday. The jury reached its verdict late Friday afternoon.
The case was prosecuted by deputy district attorneys Julie McMakin and Elise Driskell.
Knight was represented by attorneys Emory Anthony, Luckie Milad and Moses Stone.
Following the conviction, Circuit Judge Shanta Craig Owens revoked Knight’s bond, and he was booked back into the Jefferson County Jail.
Owens set a sentencing date for April 24.
