Detroit Dad Falsely Jailed for Raping & Murdering His Own Babygirl Is Cleared...But What Now?

Imagine you’re just 22-years-old, but you’ve already got a family. Your 8-month-old daughter dies in your arms, tragically suffocated by accident while the both of you are sleeping. The despair and guilt are immense. Completely overwhelming. You feel like you could die yourself.

And then: you are accused of raping and beating the baby to death, charged with felony murder, first-degree child abuse and first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and you have a $2 million bail to pay.

That’s what happened to Detroit dad James Lee Saltmarshall. He was devastated in every imaginable way. Somehow, he managed to raise money for the bond and got out and cleared his name…legally, anyway.

On the internet, his name is still connected to baby murder and rape. That stain will last forever in spite of the fact the Medical Examiner’s initial findings were either just flat-out wrong or misreported.

“They should have never brought charges; never, ever, ever,” said Saltmarshall’s attorney Lillian Diallo. “It’s on the Internet ... that he’s a baby rapist and the murdered of his child, so everything else is just a footnote.”

His interrogation video was widely reported on the news and online, before charges were dropped. Millions of people saw it.

The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office, ten long weeks after 8-month-old Janiyah died, finally ruled the death an accident. Cold comfort for her parents and family.

When he was first arrested, Saltmarshall told clickondetrit.com, “I was shocked. At the same time, I was told my daughter had passed two or three days prior. That’s why on the news you see me crying frantically and acting that way. I was told that my daughter was deceased and that I was charged with three felonies that I have never seen happen to me, seen only happen on TV, but they put me in jail.”

When asked about the events that took place the day his daughter died, Shaltmarshall said, “My daughter suffocated in my arms while I was sleeping, and while she was sleeping. I woke up and realized that my daughter was not breathing and the first thing I did was call the police.

“As soon as the police came, they picked my daughter and put her in the truck for about 20 minutes and took her to the hospital. The cop then rushed me to the hospital. Once we get to the hospital, they start naming all these different types of injuries that were new to me.”

When he was finally released from behind bars on personal bond, he said he was relieved he’d “get to be around family and get to actually mourn my daughter’s death.” But he did miss little Janiyah’s funeral. That’s precious time he can never get back.

The false charges never got as far as actually being pursued—they were dismissed “in the best interest of justice,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s office said in a statement.

“After an extensive investigation and based upon the June 16, 2017 report from the Wayne County Medical Examiner, it has been determined that the cause of death of the child was asphyxia and the manner of death was determined to be an accident,” the statement went on to say. “Mr. Saltmarshall and his daughter were determined to have slept adjacent to each other on an adult sized bed and upon waking Mr. Saltmarshall found the child unresponsive.”

According to Lisa Croff, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office, Janiyah died of asphyxia due to “overlay,” and the determination was made based on death records.

Throughout the ordeal, Saltmarshall maintained his innocence, his attorney saying, “There was no evidence of sexual assault; there was no evidence of a skull fracture; there was no evidence of shaken baby syndrome; there was no evidence at all behind the charges.”

There’s a lot of background to the story, painting Saltmarshall and the baby’s mom, Zuleika Moreno, as less-than-ideal parents. Child Protective Serves were monitoring the infant almost from the beginning of her life. But that doesn’t mean she was intentionally killed and that’s the bottom line when it comes to legal retribution against these false and public accusations.

Diallo says her client is “sad” and in need of counseling. And his reputation is ruined. “How do you get rid of the smear?” Diallo asked. “There are people who will believe it forever and ever.”

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