Roseville adoptive parents face homicide, child abuse charges in 9-year-old’s death
Authorities have arrested the adoptive parents of a 9-year-old who died at a hospital days after being found unresponsive at his family’s home in Roseville. Roseville police say the couple faces homicide and child abuse charges in connection with the boy’s death.
Officers and firefighters were dispatched to a home on New England Drive, just east of Sunrise Boulevard, at 6 p.m. Friday for a call requesting medical aid.
Officers found the 9-year-old boy unresponsive, said Lt. Chris Ciampa, a spokesman for the Roseville Police Department.
Ciampa said the boy, “despite extensive efforts,” died Monday at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
Roseville police detectives, in collaboration with the Placer County Children’s System of Care, have been investigating the boy’s death since the incident. On Wednesday morning, investigators arrested the boy’s adoptive mother, 37-year-old Kimberly Blakley. She was booked at the Placer County Jail and is being held without bail.
Officers later on Wednesday arrested the child’s adoptive father, 37-year-old Cory Blakley, on suspicion of murder and willful cruelty to a child. He was also being held without bail.
It was not known how long the couple had been guardians of the boy.
Ciampa said the boy’s cause of death had not been confirmed by the Placer County Coroner’s Office, which is standard protocol and may take weeks to disclose.
He said the boy’s siblings were in protective custody as the homicide investigation continues.
Ciampa said the child’s death “was a devastating incident, and our hearts go out to the family and friends impacted by this tragedy.”
This story was originally published February 7, 2024 at 5:45 PM.
