Father charged with beating death of 12-year-old son

Last Sunday, August 16th, police were called to a Bolivar, Missouri residence at 10 pm.  Upon arrival, they were directed to the grass behind the barn where they located a 12-year-old boy that was "unconscious and was not breathing."  Nearby lay a large piece of "cylindrical steel" with blood on it.

Police contacted two men that were standing near the scene.  One was identified as 39-year-old Chad Aaron Baker, father of the child.  The other man, identified only as a relative, stated that Chad had called him and said that he "needed to talk to him."  The relative indicated that he "knew something was wrong" so had headed right over.  Once he arrived, Baker is said to have admitted to killing his son, Logan.

Baker was arrested and has been booked into the Polk County Jail on charges of first-degree murder, first-degree domestic assault and armed criminal action.

“Motive is completely unknown at this point. We’re still working to try and develop that,” KY3 quoted Lt. Roger Barron, Bolivar Police Department as saying.

Logan's cousin, Alivia Azzun spoke with the Kansas City Star expressing frustration with a seeming lack of response for calls for help.

"I want to know exactly how many people called," she's quoted as saying.  "How many dalls does someone have to make for someone to get help?"

She stated that she had made at least one call to Missouri's child protective services this year over concerns about her uncle's ability to care for his children.  Azzun stated that her uncle has schizophrenia and that he wasn't taking the medications that had been prescribed.

She stated that she recognized the look her uncle had in his mug shot, he had what she described as a "dead look in his eyes."  Azzum continued, "That was the face he made when he was having an episode."

Despite the death of her cousin, Azzum says her uncle is "not an evil person.  He's still someone's son, brother.  ... I think it's truly going to hit him when he comes to.  The boys were his reason for living."

Baker's wife, the mother of his two sons died in 2018 of a heart condition.

That same year, Baker was charged with endangering the welfare of a child when he allowed his older son to fight another boy while he watched.  According to KY3, prosecutors changed the charge to a peace disturbance.

The following year in October, Baker was again charged with endangering the welfare of a child, this time for driving under the influence with both of his sons in the vehicle.

“They should have gotten taken away a long time ago,” said Azzun. “The house they were staying at was a wreck. It was not okay for children to be living there. The whole situation was messed up, and if someone would have just like shown up and checked up on them, they would have seen that and they didn’t.”

In addition to her own calls, she is aware of at least one of Logan's teachers making several calls expressing concerns and yet, "nothing happened."

“What would it have took for them to show up?” Azzun said. “How many times, how many calls would they have to receive for action to be done? … Kids have been taken for less.”

Baker's court date is not known at this time.