AUBURN — A Lewiston man charged in the death of his infant son told police he forced a pacifier into the baby’s mouth shortly before the boy stopped breathing.

A Maine State Police detective wrote in an affidavit that Danny Adams, 24, of 77 Rideout Ave., Lewiston, told police he was frustrated that his 14-week-old son, Zade, wouldn’t stop crying on the morning of Dec. 14. Adams said he put a pacifier in the baby’s mouth and held it in place, but the baby spit out the pacifier. Adams then put the pacifier back in the baby’s mouth and placed him on his stomach and held him down with his hand on the baby’s back.

About an hour later, according to the affidavit, Adams checked on the baby and noticed the pacifier was no longer in his mouth. The baby was unresponsive, his lips were blue and his skin was pale. Adams yelled to the baby’s mother, Kaitlyn E. Baker, 18, to call 911 while Adams performed CPR, according to Detective Lauren Edstrom’s affidavit.

An autopsy determined the cause of death was asphyxiation.

Police said Adams admitted in an earlier interview that he injected heroin the night before at a friend’s house, then smoked marijuana with Baker when he got home. He said he had bruised Zade’s ears when he squeezed them with his thumb and fingers as he held the head of the baby, who continued to cry.

Adams said he caused bruising on Zade’s forehead when he forced a pacifier into the baby’s mouth and held it in place with his palm, while supporting his fingers on the baby’s forehead, according to the affidavit.

Doctors had detected a rib fracture during the autopsy. Adams told police he had become frustrated by Zade’s crying about four weeks earlier and had squeezed the baby hard.

Adams was arrested Wednesday and charged with murder. He was taken to a Lewiston hospital for observation before being transferred to Androscoggin County Jail, where he is being held without bail.

He is likely to make his first court appearance Friday morning.

cwilliams@sunjournal.com