LEWISTON — State and local police arrested a local man Wednesday afternoon and charged him with killing his infant son.

Danny Adams, 24, was charged with murder in the death of his 3-month-old son, Zade Adams, who was found unresponsive in his bassinet on the morning of Dec. 14, police said.

The father and son, along with the boy’s mother, 18-year-old Kaitlyn Baker, lived in an apartment at 77 Rideout Ave. in Lewiston.

The baby was born at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center on Sept. 1, according to birth records. He had no siblings.

Maine State Police spokesman Stephen McCausland said police had been investigating the death for the past 3½ weeks. The State Medical Examiner’s office said the baby was suffocated.

Adams was arrested at his apartment at about 4 p.m. and is likely to make his first court appearance either Thursday or Friday, McCausland said. Adams was taken to a Lewiston hospital for observation and will be transferred to the county jail later.

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According to court records, Adams has an extensive criminal history, including convictions stemming from the 2010 theft of a van in Pittsfield that he later crashed in Newport.

Adams, who was out on probation at the time of the crash, was found with a contusion and cuts on his face from the accident. He was arrested and charged with theft, probation violation, operating a vehicle without a license, leaving the scene of a personal injury accident and a felony charge of receiving stolen property.

Adams was also convicted on a slew of burglary and theft charges in the Pittsfield area, for which he served time at the Maine Correctional Center in Windham.

In Lewiston, Adams was convicted in mid-December of allowing a minor to consume alcohol, for which he paid a $500 fine.

According to McCausland, the arrest changes last year’s homicide number in Maine to 21.

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