A Maine mother headed back to work after maternity leave, leaving her 12-week-old daughter with the baby’s father for their first solo day together. By that evening, the infant was in a hospital bed with catastrophic injuries, and within hours she was dead. Police now say that what should have been a routine handoff between parents turned into a homicide investigation, with the child’s father facing serious charges.
The baby, identified as Lyla Samuels, had been described by relatives as “perfect” and healthy before that day. Her father, 24-year-old Shawn Samuels, is now accused of inflicting fatal trauma while he was supposed to be caring for her, and the case has quickly become a flashpoint in Maine for conversations about trust, domestic violence, and what really happens behind closed doors when a caregiver snaps.
The first day back at work that changed everything
According to investigators, Mom had just returned to her job after maternity leave when she left 12-week-old Lyla in the care of her father, Shawn Samuels, for the first time on his own. The plan was ordinary enough: she would work her shift while he stayed home with their daughter, a setup countless families rely on every day. Instead, within hours, Lyla was critically injured and fighting for her life, a sequence of events later detailed in charging documents and summarized in one account.
Relatives later told authorities that Lyla had been thriving up until that day, with no known medical issues and no prior injuries. When Mom walked out the door that morning, she believed she was leaving her baby in safe hands, a belief echoed in another detailed description of how she entrusted her 12-week-old to Dad “for the first time” before the emergency unfolded earlier that day. That ordinary goodbye now sits at the center of a criminal case.
A frantic 911 call and a baby in crisis
The first sign that something was terribly wrong came when a relative dialed 911, telling dispatchers that the “father of this child is alone with the child” and that the baby was unresponsive. When the dispatcher asked if the caller believed the child had been abused, the person on the line allegedly answered, “Yeah,” a chilling exchange later recounted in documents cited by The Boston Globe. First responders arrived to find Baby Lyla in grave condition, and she was rushed to a nearby hospital as doctors tried to stabilize her.
Medical staff quickly realized they were not dealing with a sudden illness. Lyla had multiple traumatic injuries that raised immediate red flags for suspected abuse, prompting the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit, North, to get involved. Investigators later noted that, due to her injuries, the Maine State Police was called to take over the case, a sign that authorities were treating the situation as a potential homicide from the start.
Inside the injuries and the homicide charges
Doctors who examined Lyla documented a devastating list of injuries. An autopsy later found that she had four broken ribs, retinal hemorrhages, and significant swelling of the brain, injuries that experts said were consistent with violent trauma rather than an accident. Those findings, laid out in detail in one summary of the case, supported the conclusion that Lyla’s death was a homicide rather than a medical fluke.
On the strength of that medical evidence, police arrested Father, identified as Shawn S. Samuels, and charged him with domestic violence elevated aggravated assault, violation of bail, and murder. One report notes that Lyla Samuels’ father, Shawn, was taken into custody after she was transferred to Maine Medical Center in Bangor and later died from her injuries, with prosecutors pointing to the pattern of trauma as proof of intentional harm in Bangor. Another account underscores that, due to her injuries, Shawn Samuels was quickly identified as the primary suspect and booked on the most serious charges available under Maine law after investigators reviewed the medical reports and his statements under state law.
A father’s record and a community’s shock
As the case moved from emergency rooms to courtrooms, more details emerged about Shawn Samuels himself. Reporting from Maine described him as a father with a lengthy rap sheet, noting prior run-ins with the law that painted a picture of instability long before Lyla’s death. One account by Anthony Blair highlighted that the Maine dad, Shawn Samuels, had a criminal history that prosecutors say is relevant to understanding the risk he posed when he was left alone with his daughter in Maine.
Neighbors and relatives, meanwhile, were left trying to reconcile the image of a young family with the brutal reality of Lyla’s injuries. Another report, also citing Anthony Blair, noted that at one point, according to documents seen by the Press Herald, questions were raised about how much oversight Shawn had while he was out on bail before this incident, and whether more could have been done to protect Baby Lyla from harm before the tragedy. For many in the community, the case has become a painful example of how warning signs can be missed until it is far too late.
Baby Lyla’s short life and the questions left behind
Friends and family have described Baby Lyla as a “perfect” 12-week-old who was doted on by Mom and extended relatives. One detailed profile of the family notes that Baby Lyla was found unresponsive after her first solo time with her father in Maine, with witnesses recalling how she turned “blue” before dying in hospital, a haunting detail that has stuck with those following the case in Maine. Another account by Kimberley Braddish for The Nightly underscores how quickly the situation escalated, with Baby Lyla’s condition deteriorating so fast that even experienced medical teams could not save her once the injuries had been inflicted according to The.
As the legal process grinds forward, coverage has also focused on the emotional wreckage left behind. One bulletin by Craig Hoyle Monday, filed from Maine, described how Dad was arrested after his infant daughter died the first time she was alone with him, capturing the disbelief and anger that many locals feel as they watch the case unfold in GMT coverage. Another report on the same case notes that Dad’s arrest came after investigators pieced together medical findings, witness statements, and his own account of what happened during that first solo “playdate” with Lyla, leading to a swift decision to charge him with homicide after the playdate.
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