Dad cradled 3-year-old son in his arms before shooting him in head after telling boy's mom he was going to do it, cops say
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Inset: Kentre Baker (GoFundMe). Background: Police at the Las Vegas apartment complex where they say Kentre Baker, 3, was shot and killed by his father (KVVU/YouTube).

A tragic incident unfolded in Las Vegas as a domestic dispute between parents spiraled into the fatal shooting of their 3-year-old son. According to Nevada police, the father shot the child in the head after reportedly telling the mother, “I’m blowing the child’s brains out.” Disturbing details from 911 calls that night reveal that the father also attempted to harm the mother and fired shots at her friend’s vehicle.

In a distressing 911 call, Raneka Pate, the mother of the toddler, Kentre Baker, expressed her panic, stating, “He’s not in his right mind,” as reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Pate told authorities at approximately 1:18 a.m. on February 3 that Kentre’s father, Quinton Baker, was attempting to take her son. This was shortly before law enforcement fatally shot Baker after he fired at the boy.

Pate accused Baker of assaulting her friend and attempting to kill her following a heated argument at their home on the 8400 block of South Maryland Parkway. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police and information from the 911 recordings, as shared by the Review-Journal, supported these claims. Baker had allegedly taken Kentre to his car, trying to place him inside.

As Pate attempted to retrieve Kentre from the vehicle, Baker reportedly fired shots at her and her friend’s car, according to the Review-Journal. Police informed local NBC affiliate KSNV, noting that the parents’ argument had intensified throughout the night.

Witnesses described the situation as chaotic, with one reporting a couple “screaming and arguing with each other” during a 911 call around 1:29 a.m., as detailed by the Review-Journal.

“Eventually, a man came out with a gun and a kid,” the witness said. “He threw the kid in a blue Ford … but before he peeled out of here, he took a shot at the white BMW with a gun.”

Police say Baker returned to the apartment with Kentre and then started fighting with Pate again before walking outside and confronting police while holding the boy.

“He’s threatening to kill me and my son,” Pate said in a second 911 call. “He literally beat me …. He’s crazy. He’s in the house with him.”

Body camera footage shows Baker cradling and holding Kentre in his arms while pointing a gun at him, according to police. “The child was struck in the head by a close contact gunshot wound when the suspect discharged his weapon,” said Clark County Assistant Sheriff Bryan Peterson at a Feb. 5 press conference.

Peterson told reporters that during their investigation, Pate alleged to police that Baker told her, “If you don’t tell them to call this s— off, and if they try to come up these stairs I’m blowing the child’s brains out and I’m blowing mine out. You won’t have neither one of us.”

Peterson added, “That child was being held hostage, and the suspect’s intent was clearly stated by him to the mother several times. He was going to kill that child and then kill himself.”

Officers who arrived on scene ended up shooting Baker to death after he opened fire on Kentre. While the boy was shot once in the leg by police, Peterson said the coroner reported his death as being caused by a shot fired by Baker.

“In this situation, officers have milliseconds to make a decision,” Peterson told reporters. “Their ultimate goal is to save that baby’s life. That suspect chose those actions and followed through with what his intent was. He killed his son.”

Pate has blamed the shooting on police and retained a Las Vegas lawyer, Ofelia Markarian, who plans to hold a press conference at a later date, according to the Review-Journal. “I told police officers that the person was very agitated, and that if they could do anything to calm or deescalate the situation, without any lethal force because he did have my son in his possession,” Pate told KSNV.

The officers involved have been placed on administrative leave pending a review of what happened, according to police officials.

The review is expected to last several months.

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