Lakewood Parents Charged with Murder After 7-Week-Old Infant Dies

Two Lakewood parents face second-degree murder charges after their 7-week-old son died at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital on March 9, five days after his father called 911 to report the infant was not breathing. Pierce County prosecutors charged Mark Anthony Labaco Clamor, 21, with two counts of second-degree murder and Alyssa Jade Vanderbeck, 19, with one count. Bail was set at $1 million for each defendant, and a judge ordered the two to have no contact with one another following their Thursday arraignment.

The case began March 4 when Clamor called 911 reporting that his infant son, identified in court documents as N.C., had stopped breathing. West Pierce Fire and Rescue transported the child to Mary Bridge, where he was admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Lakewood officers were not dispatched to the hospital until March 5, after a social worker reported a possible child abuse case involving the infant.

Doctors found injuries that included subdural hemorrhages, significant brain hemorrhaging, an anoxic brain injury, extensive retinal hemorrhages, and possible healing rib fractures. A physician who specializes in child abuse intervention concluded: "Based on the review of the available medical evidence, this presentation is consistent with abusive head trauma."

Court documents detail what investigators say Clamor told them. He said he had been caring for N.C. alone while Vanderbeck slept, fed the baby twice, and when the infant became fussy, picked him up and rocked him in a forward-and-backward "jerking motion" that he physically demonstrated for investigators. He told them he saw the child's head "jerk back pretty hard" and later acknowledged he had handled the baby in a way he knew was rough. Clamor also told detectives he had been under significant strain from "finances, housing concerns, unemployment, and exhaustion from caring for the newborn."

Vanderbeck told investigators that after she and Clamor got out of the shower, the baby was making "grunting noises," appeared unresponsive, and seemed distressed. Rather than calling 911 immediately, she said she recorded video and reached out to friends and family for advice. Court documents state she reported it took "30 to 60 minutes before they realized they should call for help." She also told investigators she thought the child might have had a seizure, describing him as "distraught" with his eyes open but unresponsive. The videos she recorded, according to the court declaration, showed the child breathing with difficulty, grunting, and at one point appearing to stop breathing entirely.

A Lakewood police officer noted in court documents that the parents' demeanor was "unusual, considering the gravity of the suspected offense and the condition their child was in."

N.C. died at Mary Bridge on March 9. Charges were filed Thursday, March 12, in Pierce County Superior Court.