It was gathered from a statement credited to the Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal, Don Freeman, and obtained from the agency’s website, that Olawusi has also been named among the 15 most wanted fugitives in the US.
Freeman noted that Olawusi, who lived in Rhodes Island, US, was arraigned on two counts bordering on first-degree murder caused by inflicting bodily injury to a child and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.
He added that the incident occurred on April 3, 2017, after police operatives and firefighters found the three-month-old child and rescued him at the hospital where it was discovered that the child had suffered injuries in 18 parts of his body. The discovery was said to have led to the arrest of Olawusi.
Upon his arrest, Olawusi was charged in court on April 20, 2017, but his whereabouts became unknown after he was released the same day while the trial was pending.
Freeman added that the infant died six months after being hospitalised as a result of the injuries he had allegedly sustained from his father’s abuse which prompted the prosecuting department to include a murder charge in the ongoing trial.
He was released the same day and subsequently fled. The murder charge was added following the infant’s death on October 31, 2017.
The US Supervisory Deputy Marshall noted that after frantic efforts to locate Olawusi, it was discovered that he had fled the country on June 20, 2017, while stressing that further investigation revealed that he was receiving assistance from family members in Nigeria.
He added that the suspect has been placed on the wanted list because he could pose a danger to children and other members of the public and the US would deploy all its resources to ensure that he faces justice.