Dominick Calhoun's family fights his mother's release from prison after she served her minimum sentence for her murder.
GENESEE COUNTY, Mich. (WJRT) - Dominick Calhoun would have turned 17 years old this year and enjoyed being a senior in high school, deciding what the future would bring.
But he was beaten to death by his mother's boyfriend at 4 years old in 2010. Thirteen years later, not a day goes by that Dominick's family doesn't think about the young man he would have become.
Dominick's mother and her boyfriend have spent the past 13 years behind bars.
Now, his father and grandfather are reliving the horrors of his death and pain of their loss after learning his mother -- the one person police say could have saved him -- could soon be set free.
Dominick was the family's first grandson and his grandfather was happy for a boy to carry on the family name. His smile, laughter and memory are frozen in time.
Memories are all Rick Calhoun has left of his grandson.
"We choose to surround ourselves with him," he said. "Of course we couldn't never forget him, but sometimes it just keeps us remembering."
The Calhouns keep photos of Dominick everywhere. His glowing smile brings them comfort.
"He had that easy life personality. He was easy going and kindred spirit kinda -- always had a smile. And it was just -- it's a tragedy," Rick Calhoun said.
The other image burned in his memory is much darker -- his final moments with Dominick, which he will never forget.
"I live with that all the time. Like with the image of him being on the bedroom floor," Rick said. "And I live with the image of Corrine standing there in the hallway with a towel around telling me that Brandon did this and I've been trying to get out of here. Just rings through my head every time I think about it."
Investigators say Dominick's mother, Corrine Baker, let him down. Police say she was high and worried about getting into trouble for violating probation, so she turned her back while her boyfriend, Brandon Hayes, hit Dominick so many times that his tiny body couldn't take it anymore.
FOUR DAYS OF TORTURE
Hayes told authorities that Dominick wet his pants, which made him so mad that he started beating the 55-pound boy. He is accused of torturing Dominick for four days in a row while Baker allegedly did nothing.
Then it was too late.
"It's a horrendous crime," said Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton. "Poor little boy was tortured and beaten to death and this woman enabled that to happen. She enabled Hayes to do that to her boy."
Leyton said he will remember Dominick's case for the rest of his life, even after he leaves office.
"This is one of the most egregious crimes that has ever occurred in Genesee County," he said.
The investigation revealed that Baker even left the couple's Argentine Township apartment two times, but never told anyone that Dominick was in danger.
On the fourth day of the torture, investigators believe Baker finally tried to stop Hayes by laying on top of her son as he was being kicked and punched. But by the time she tried to help, it was too late.
Her sister came over with friends to buy marijuana and saw her nephew battered and bruised. Baker had bruises on her face and arm. She told them not to bother Dominick because he was sleeping.
Baker's sister and the three friends who came with her saw Dominick's injuries and wanted to call for medical help. But Baker told them she didn't want Michigan Children's Protective Services involved.
Baker's sister eventually called Dominick's paternal grandfather, Rick Calhoun, who rushed over to help. He knocked on the door, they let him in, he took a look at Dominick and believed the boy was asleep.
But he was actually dying.
PAINFUL MEMORIES
Calhoun never saw Dominick dance again. His favorite blankie was found blood spattered and all Calhoun could do is what police say his mother failed to all that time: He contacted authorities.
Then Calhoun did the only thing he could at that point to the man police say killed his grandson.
"I just hit him," Calhoun said. "I knocked him down."
Police and medical first responders rushed to help, but it too late for Dominick.
Hayes confessed to causing Dominick's fatal injuries. He was convicted of all counts in court, including first-degree murder, child abuse and torture.
Hayes now is serving a mandatory sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole.
But he wasn't the only person held responsible for Dominick's death. Baker was charged with second-degree murder and child abuse, which carry a possible sentence of up to life in prison, for what authorities say she didn't do to save her son.
Baker agreed to testify against Hayes in exchange for a sentence of 13 to 20 years in prison. It was a painful deal for Dominick's family, but it offered a chance at some closure.
Baker tried get her plea tossed out and attempted to appeal the case throughout her time behind bars. She maintained her innocence from prison, writing a book entitled, "I Didn't Kill My Baby."
Her family said she never has shown remorse for Dominick's death and never even wrote them a letter from prison.
LETTER CAME TOO LATE
But a letter did arrive from the Michigan Department of Corrections in December that was devastating to Dominick's family. It says the Michigan Parole Board granted Baker's first request to get out of prison.
Based on that decision, Baker is scheduled to be set free in April.
"We always say she should have been an actress. So good at getting people to believe woe is her," Calhoun said.
He said Baker "looks solid gold on paper," but he vehemently disagrees with the parole board's decision to let her out of prison.
"I don't know how 13 years can be enough for letting her 4-year-old son get murdered over days and days," Calhoun said. "You see people commit crimes and spend 20 years in prison, 30 years in prison that aren't half of what happened in this to my grandson."
FAMILY APPEALING PAROLE RULING
Dominick's family appealed the parole board's decision on Jan. 24, arguing that they never received notification of the parole hearing. After 13 years and several address changes, the original letter about the parole process arrived too late.
"Biggest tragedy, the family just gets notice she is getting out by the earliest date," said attorney Paul Scott. "This is really a failure by government. The burden should be on parole board, not family, to notify them."
Scott previously served as a state representative for Argentine Township, where Dominick died. He helped the Calhoun family create Dominick's law to create tougher punishments for child abusers.
Now Scott is helping the family stop Baker's release after serving just the minimum of her 13 to 20 year sentence.
"I keep going back to this is a 4-year-old child -- a defenseless person," Rick Calhoun said.
He will do everything he can to fight for justice for his grandson.
"I wouldn't even get the strength to do it if it wasn't for him. He is the one who deserves to have us do everything that we have to to make sure for us to feel that, OK if she gets out we gave it everything that we have to try and stop it," Calhoun said.
As time passes, so do missed milestones. They are heartbreaking reminders of what Dominick could have done with his life and who he could have been -- if only his mother had protected him.
The Calhouns say their grief will remain no matter when Baker gets out of prison.
DOMINICK'S LAW
They were able to keep Dominick's name alive by fighting for harsher punishments for child abusers.
In June 2012, Gov. Rick Snyder signed Dominick's Law, which strengthens penalties for first-degree and second-degree child abuse, and adds penalties when abuse is committed in front of another child.
The Calhoun family rallied at the State Capitol for the law and Rick Calhoun testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee about Dominick's death.
Dominick's Law is now protecting countless other children and ensuring his name will live on in the hearts and laws of Michigan.
