Pretend Boyfriend Says He “Football Fumbled” Her Baby to Death

Pretend Boyfriend Says He “Football Fumbled” Her Baby to Death

Damen Ryland Sutton was born on June 4th, 2011, at St. John’s Hospital in Warren, Michigan. He was the first child of parents Nikki and Timothy Sutton. Damen had short blonde hair and the biggest blue eyes framed with thick lashes. He had a soft smile and a slight dimple in one cheek. He was described as full of energy and very active, like many young boys his age; he loved running through the house. Damian was a smart, strong, and tough little boy. He enjoyed the drums, rock music, and superheroes. He loved his Elmo doll and would make his other toys give it kisses. His dad called him “little boss man” and said that Damian saved his life. Having his son helped him turn his life around. He said, “Before Daman was born, there was nothing good in my life. I was making wrong decisions constantly. I was in and out of trouble. I had nothing going for me.” His mother called him the purest soul she had ever met. She said he was her best friend and the best part of her.

Nikki and Timothy got married in 2010. They lived with Nikki’s mom, Tara Thompson. When Damien was born, Tara said Nikki cried the first time she had to leave her baby to go to work. Tara would babysit and take him to the park. He was outgoing, and he easily made friends with the other kids. Stressed by the responsibilities of being new parents, the couple’s relationship struggled, and Timothy eventually moved out. Nikki left as well after an argument with her mother. She and Damen lived with her father for a short time, but soon she needed to find a new place to live. Nikki had recently started a new job at an Irish pub in Romeo, Michigan, but she wasn’t making enough money to cover all the expenses of a single mother. Her mother had a solution.

Tara had recently started working at a small cell phone business. Her boss, Ronald Deombro, said he would help Nikki and Damen get back on their feet. Ronald lived with his parents in a large home in a nice suburban neighborhood. The four-bedroom home on Grand Oaks Court had plenty of room. She and Daman could share the third floor with Ronald. There was just one catch: Ronald’s parents wouldn’t let a “random lady with a baby,” as they called it, move in with him. Nikki would have to pretend to be Ronald’s girlfriend. Hoping it would give her the chance to save enough money for her own place, Nikki agreed. She said mothers do what they have to do for their children. She felt like this was something she had to do, so she told his parents, Kit and Ronald Senior, that she was their son’s girlfriend. In July of 2013, she and Daman moved into their Washington Township home.

Ronald had a prior criminal history that included domestic violence and driving while impaired. He never shared his history with Nikki; however, his parents were well aware of it. In 2009, he became angry and violent in their home, and in 2010, he again became angry and violent after taking prescription medication. He assaulted his father and threatened him with a gun. Neither Kit nor Ronald Senior told Nikki about these incidents. They never warned her that Ronald might not be safe for babysitting a young child. Ronald’s 10-year-old niece, Miranda, sometimes spent time at the house. She said that her uncle was mean to Damian. She saw him shake Damian sometimes. Miranda saw him slap the little boy. She said Ronald told her that he hated Damian and wished that he would die. She never told Nikki, perhaps because she was afraid of her uncle.

Unaware of the potential danger Ronald posed, Nikki left Damian with him while she went to work. Damen had a few accidents while Ronald was babysitting, but she thought it was just because he wasn’t used to watching such a young child. One time he had a rug burn, another time a scratch on his collarbone. He was hit with a basketball. He fell down four or five carpeted steps and got a mark on his face. But he was a tough and active little boy, and none of the injuries seemed serious. Nikki told Ronald to be more careful, but she didn’t suspect anything was wrong.

One morning during mid-August, Damen was watching an episode of SpongeBob while eating at the kitchen island counter. He was seated on a bar stool on top of two telephone books, a sort of homemade booster seat. Nikki was home; she and Ronald were in the living room nearby but out of sight. They heard Damen fall, and Nikki rushed to his aid. She said that he cried for 12 to 13 seconds, but afterwards, he seemed normal. She said the tumble was “no big deal” in her words and that it didn’t require any medical treatment. If he had been seriously hurt, she said, she would have taken him to the hospital right away. She and Ronald said he was acting normal after the incident.

Sometime around August 14th, Ronald told Nikki that he had a breakdown and Damen was dead. Nikki was confused and understandably upset. When asked why he would say such a terrible thing, Ronald said he was just making a sick joke. Nikki was disturbed, but Daman was fine, so she let it go. On August 21st, Nikki had to go to work, and Ronald again agreed to watch Damen. Nikki said Damen seemed fine that afternoon, and he was acting like his typical energetic self. He watched her get ready and put on her makeup. When she left, she gave him a kiss and said, “I love you, Mommy,” before Nikki left around 3:40 p.m.

After that, Ronald was alone with Damen. Ronald Senior was home, but he was outside working in the yard. The phone rang, and Ronald claimed that he put Damian in his playpen in order to answer the call. He said that Damen was alert and acting perfectly fine. At 4:53 p.m., records showed that Ronald’s brother, Jason, called him. Jason said Ronald sounded frantic on the phone, though he did not reveal what they talked about publicly. About 18 minutes later, the call ended. When Ronald returned to the playpen, Damen wasn’t moving, and he was gasping for breath. When Ronald picked Damen up, the little boy went limp in his arms. Ronald ran outside to get his father. His father came in and stayed with Daman while Ronald called 911 at 5:12 p.m.

When asked about his emergency, Ronald said, “My girlfriend’s child is not breathing.” The dispatcher tried to confirm his statement. Ronald said to his father, “He’s not breathing, right?” His father answered, “He’s breathing,” but Ronald cut him off. He said, “He’s breathing, he’s like hiccuping. He might have asthma. He might have something in his throat, my dad says.” As Ronald gave the Grand Oaks Court address, his dad continued to talk in the background, but his words were unclear. Ronald told the dispatcher, “We need help immediately.”

When police and paramedics arrived, Damien was still unresponsive. They took him to the nearby Henry Ford Hospital, but doctors there soon realized he had very serious head injuries. They rushed him to the Children’s Hospital in Detroit. Ronald called Nikki and told her that Damien had an asthma attack and had to go to the hospital immediately. She knew something didn’t make sense because Daman didn’t have asthma. She started screaming. Ronald and his father picked Nikki up from work and drove her to the hospital. In the car, she said to Ronald, “You did this.” She said he apologized. She said she was disgusted and wanted to hurt him.

Doctors told Nikki that Daman had shaken baby syndrome. They said it was the most severe case that they had ever seen. By 8:00 p.m., Detective Eric Earler was questioning Ronald. Police recorded the interview and would later use it at his trial. Ronald talked to the detective voluntarily. He talked a lot and told Detective Earler multiple stories about what happened to Damen. First, he said that Damen had asthma. The detective insisted that something must have happened. He blamed it on the fall from the kitchen stool, saying the fall had happened that morning or maybe a few days before. He also mentioned the fall down the stairs that happened two weeks prior. He talked about two incidents where they were playing catch and the ball hit Damien in the face. He also told the detective about a time when he was carrying Damien like a football and accidentally dropped him; he called it a “football fumble.” During the interview, he eventually admitted he was frustrated with Daman. The toddler was whining, fussing, and crying uncontrollably. He also admitted he shook Damian for 30 seconds. He later changed his story and said he only shook him for 10 seconds. He said he thought it would make him laugh because that is what happened on other occasions when he shook him. He told the detective that the last thing Damen said was “sorry.”

While Ron was being interviewed, Damen was at the hospital fighting for his life. Timothy joined Nikki at the Children’s Hospital. Doctors told the couple that Damien showed signs of shaken baby syndrome. Timothy couldn’t understand Ronald’s actions. He said, “Was he mad or was it just because he wanted to? That’s what I want to know. How did a 27-year-old man get so agitated by a 2-year-old boy to do this to him?” Daman’s brain was bleeding. His injuries caused his brain to swell so much that it was pushing against his skull. In order to give him a chance to heal, doctors needed to perform emergency brain surgery. During the surgery, a portion of his skull was removed from the right side of his head. Damian was placed into a medically induced coma. Timothy said the doctors told him, “It’s going to be a really touchy situation. Nobody’s sure what’s going to happen.”

Daman’s hospitalization touched the hearts of many people. There was a candlelight vigil at a local park on August 23rd; people gathered and prayed for his recovery. A family friend created a social media page for Daman and posted updates about his condition. Early on August 24th, a post to the page said the pressure in Damian’s brain was at 31; it needed to get down below 15. Doctors administered medication and were able to get it down to 4. Everyone was hopeful. Nikki said, “Miracles happen. I want to see Damen smile again.” During the night, the pressure in his brain spiked. Nikki stayed by his bedside.

On August 25th, Damen’s body stopped responding to his medication. Machines were keeping his body alive, and the doctors suspected his brain had been permanently injured. On August 26th, a family member relayed the following update: “The doctors have done all that they can for Damian. The small breaths that you might have heard he is taking are a sign the ventilators are no longer helping him as much as they need to be. He isn’t breathing on his own in tandem with the machines; this would be good. He is breathing in addition to, which shows he needs more than he’s getting, and the stress is increasing the pressure on his brain. The CT scans show 80% brain damage at this point. They need to make a decision much like they had to do when they chose the surgery. If they do not wean him off the meds, they’ll be unable to assess the damage. Damen needs to be awake for them to be able to help him anymore. Leaving him on the meds and on the machines can no longer help him.”

Daman’s body shook as he emerged from the coma. They gave him pain medicine as he left the coma state; he would be able to feel pain again, and they wanted to spare him as much as they could. His blood pressure was rising and dipping. His brain pressure spiked to 40. His pupils were big and dark at 7 to 8 mm wide. He stopped responding to light. On August 27th, it became clear that he could not recover. He couldn’t breathe on his own. Nikki decided to take him off the respirator. She wrapped him in his blue Monsters Inc. blanket and held him. She said, “The day Damian passed away, that very day, I cradled him in my arms as if he was asleep. He took his last breath, and I knew it was his last breath. I felt my baby boy’s soul leave his body.”

It was the only day in the children’s hospital that it had rained, and every other day was sunny. Damen loved the rain. Later she said, “I paid attention to his signs when he was in the hospital. He would grasp onto my fingers or twitch around so much when I would speak to him. I had many people from different religions, from churches, come in the hospital room and pray for him, and every one of those people said he was going to make it or he’s going to be okay. I believe prayers did come true, even though not the way most people expected them to.” She believed Daman would somehow find his way back to her.

After Damen’s death, Nikki lost the will to live and attempted to self-cancel via an overdose. The day after her unsuccessful attempt, she met Army veteran Shawn Randall at a party. They had a lot in common and became instant friends. A few months later, her then-boyfriend broke up with her. Not long after, she and Shawn started dating. They soon fell in love and decided that they wanted to have a baby together. Nikki had to have a birth control device removed from her arm. They had to go to two places in order to find a doctor who would remove the device because Nikki didn’t have insurance, but they didn’t care what it cost. They felt strongly that they were supposed to have a baby soon. They became pregnant with a little boy. His due date was August 27th, one year after Damen died. Numbers had a lot of meaning for Nikki; she thought it was a sign from her little boy.

While Damian was still in the hospital, Ronald turned himself in. He was charged with first-degree child abuse and given a $500,000 bond. He was still in jail when Damen died, and his bond was revoked. Once the medical examiner’s report was finished, he was charged with felony murder along with first-degree child abuse. In jail, Ronald made hundreds of phone calls to his parents. All of them were recorded. In the calls, he told his mother, “It is my fault. I took responsibility for it. I told the detective I take responsibility for it. It’s nobody’s fault but mine, to be honest with you.” He also apologized to his mother. He said, “Nothing’s going to make it right. Nothing ever will. I’m sorry I’m putting you through this.”

In several separate phone calls with his father, Ronald talked about how he shook Damian in his playpen. He said, “I thought that would help him settle down, crying, throwing a fit.” In another call, he said, “I would usually shake him, and he would smile, he would laugh, he would think it was fun.” He also changed the amount of time he said he shook Damien. He said, “I don’t know why I said 30 seconds. I told the detective in the statement I meant 5 to 10 seconds.” He also said he told the detective that when he shook the little boy, “I wasn’t doing anything crazy. I wasn’t doing anything full force.” In another phone call with his father, he said, “I don’t know why you guys have any hope. I confessed. They have a slam dunk case.”

Ronald’s trial began on May 13th, 2014. Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Jennifer Faunce presided. Jurors were shown footage of Ronald’s police interview. They heard the many stories he told. They also heard him admit to shaking Daman on more than one occasion. According to the prosecution, Ronald changed his story at least 10 times. They also heard clips from the phone conversations that he had with his parents after he was jailed. The defense tried to blame Damian’s injuries on his fall from the bar stool in the kitchen. Both Nikki and Ronald said it happened 2 to 3 days earlier, but at the trial, Ronald’s mother claimed it happened just the day prior. She said Daman had been fussy and hadn’t been eating much, which was unlike him. Kit said he seemed lethargic. She first made these claims to a CPS worker 2 months after Damen’s death. Nikki thought Kit was lying in an effort to save her son from prison.

The chair was brought into the courtroom and measured for the jury. Damen could only have fallen 2 feet 5 inches from that chair. Dr. Mary Lu Angel, a child abuse expert from Children’s Hospital, said that if the injuries were caused by an accidental fall, Damien would have had to have fallen from a second-story window, not from just 2 feet off the ground. In her expert opinion, Damian’s injuries were not an accident; they were caused intentionally by abusive head trauma that occurred right before he began showing symptoms. The defense attorney wanted to add a charge of involuntary manslaughter. He hoped the jury would choose a lesser charge if they weren’t convinced his client had hurt Damen intentionally. His request to add that lesser charge was denied.

Medical examiner Dr. Daniel Spitz also addressed Kit’s story. He said that being fussy wasn’t a sign of a serious injury. Not eating or drinking anything at all would be a bad sign, but simply being fussy was not consistent with a serious head trauma. He also said that Damian would have shown symptoms very quickly after the injury, not days later. Dr. Spitz said the autopsy showed that Daman died of blunt force trauma. His death was a homicide. Based on the bruising he saw on the exterior and interior of the scalp, he believed that Damian’s head suffered two separate impacts on the right side of the head. The surface of Daman’s brain was also bruised. Dr. Spitz said the operation doctors performed did not impede his ability to determine the cause and manner of death.

Nikki sat through the first trial even though it gave her nightmares, nightmares that caused her to wake up crying. This time she had married Shawn and was going by the name Nikki Randall. She was about 6 months pregnant with his child. After an hour of deliberation, the jury found Ronald guilty of both felony murder and first-degree child abuse. When asked about the verdict, Nikki said, “I just believe fate worked out the way it was supposed to. My son is going to change the world, and he has shown me in so many ways he is still here. I don’t believe that monster could take his soul away.” On June 10th, 2014, Ronald was sentenced to life in prison.

In July, Timothy sued Ronald, his father, and his mother for wrongful death. Timothy alleged that Ronald’s parents should have warned him, Nikki, and Damen about Ronald’s violent past. Eventually, the couple’s homeowners insurance settled with Timothy for an undisclosed amount. Timothy and Nikki thought the worst was finally over, but it was not. A few months later, Ronald appealed his conviction. Ronald’s attorney claimed that a Brady violation had occurred. This is a serious accusation with serious consequences. The prosecution is supposed to turn all the evidence it has over to the defense before trial. If they don’t, that is a Brady violation.

In this case, 32 autopsy photographs had never been handed over to the defense. Medical examiner Spitz had taken hundreds of pictures during the autopsy. He gave the prosecutor 290 of those photos but left out 32 additional ones. Since the prosecution never had the pictures, they couldn’t give them to the defense. In layman’s terms, the arguments about these pictures focused on two things. One: was the medical examiner acting as a government official? Only agents of the government can commit a Brady violation. Two: would the photos have made a difference if the jury had seen them? Ronald’s attorneys argued that those pictures would have shown that some of the bruising on Daman’s brain and scalp was caused by the surgery and not by the blows to his head.

Experts testified on both sides, one saying the pictures would have made a difference, the other saying the issue had already been clearly presented to the jury during the first trial. Judge Faunce was convinced that Dr. Spitz was acting as an agent of the government when he withheld the photos. She thought the photos could have changed the jury’s mind. She determined there was a Brady violation. She overturned Ronald’s conviction. Her decision was appealed, but the higher court agreed with her. Ronald would get a new trial.

His new trial began on January 16th, 2020. Judge Faunce again presided. Nikki was the first witness to testify. She refused to say Ronald’s name and refused to look at him. She cried when she told the jury how Damen had died in her arms. Ronald also testified. He said he might have shaken Daman. He said it was only for 5 seconds to try to make him laugh. Again, the defense tried to blame his death on the fall from the bar stool. This time their expert witness was a radiologist named Dr. Gregory Schukas. The radiologist said it was possible that Damen fell and showed no signs of injury until days later when he had a seizure. Medical examiner Spitz believed that theory was far-fetched. He said, “How do you take a CT scan and say he fell off a stool? I was simply shocked at some of the things he opined was based on assumptions.”

Medical examiner Spitz said that Dr. Schukas came to a conclusion without considering any of the circumstances of the case. The defense tried to prove Damen had other injuries to his stomach that could have caused his death. Medical examiner Spitz disagreed. He said, “I did not find anything other than a traumatic brain injury.” Nikki couldn’t bear to sit through the entire trial. She listened to as much of the closing arguments as she could tolerate but had to leave because she was, and I quote, “enraged and wishing I could take justice into my own hands.” She didn’t care to hear the defense attorney or their witnesses’ nonsense. She went to the courthouse to wait for the verdict but sat in the back room with her children. She said she went for one reason: to hear the word “guilty” once more.

Thankfully, Nikki got her wish. Ronald was found guilty for a second time. For Nikki, it was not enough. During her impact statement, she called Ronald a demon and a monster. She said the demon was already sentenced to life in prison, and yet he was granted a second trial. “You know who has a true life sentence? Me, Damen’s father, and my family.” She wished Michigan would bring back the death penalty for monsters who hurt children. Prison was not enough for her. She said she was looking forward to the demon burning for eternity. She spoke on behalf of Damian and all the babies and children like him. She said, “Killers get fair trials, but victims don’t get fair justice. Enough is enough.”

Ronald also made a bizarre statement directed to Nikki. He said, “We had multiple reliable mediums tell us your son is in heaven and died from an accident in the kitchen. I understand it was easy to blame me given your background and education. I just wish I never would have met you. I hope you find peace one day instead of misguiding your hatred and anger towards me.” Ronald was sentenced to life without parole for felony murder and an additional 15 to 25 years for child abuse. Again, he appealed his conviction. This time, in October of 2022, his conviction was upheld. He is currently serving his life sentence at Kinross Correctional Facility in Kincheloe, Michigan.

Daman’s short life and death affected the whole community. A fundraiser was held at Younger’s Irish Tavern, where Nikki worked, on August 27th. 800 people attended, and the event raised $16,000. The original purpose was to pay for his medical bills, but once he passed, the money was earmarked for his funeral. However, community members were so moved by his story they covered most of the funeral costs. The funeral home donated their time and space for his celebration of life. Others donated the vault, casket, and burial plot. With the funeral paid for, his family said they would donate the money raised to help protect other children. According to Damien’s great-aunt Cora Liebowitz, the family would pay it forward to child abuse foundations.

The public was invited to Damian’s wake at Lynch & Sons Funeral Home on August 30th. People came in droves to pay their respects and say goodbye. In the tiny casket, Daman was dressed in his Batman t-shirt. His father had purchased two halves of a heart charm. Timothy wore half of the heart on a necklace; the other half was buried with Damien, clasped in his small hand. The funeral service was private. Daman was buried at Resurrection Cemetery in Clinton Township, Michigan. Later that day, there was also a public celebration of life event at a local banquet hall.

Over the next 10 years, Nikki and Shawn had five children together: a boy in 2014, a girl in 2015, a set of twins (one girl and one boy) in 2018, and a boy in 2023. Nikki still can’t bear to be away from her kids. She still doesn’t trust them with babysitters except for the most dire of circumstances. For example, she had a trusted friend watch them in the hospital waiting room while she was having the twins via C-section down the hall. Another friend watched them while she was in court during the trial. In January of this year, she pulled them out of traditional school. Instead, she decided to “unschool” them. Unschooling is a type of homeschooling that lets the child guide their own learning based on their interests. She said the older two kids want to be a doctor and a veterinarian.

On the anniversary of Damian’s death in 2023, Nikki posted on social media that she had finally found some peace. It was the first time in years that she hadn’t felt like she needed to drink to numb the pain of the day. She said, “This isn’t a sad post; this is an ‘I am finally starting to heal’ post. I have the right people in my life that I want to thank for helping me heal. I still believe with all my heart and soul Damen Ryland reincarnated into Sage Ryland. My first due date given to me for Sage was August 27th, 2014. Daman took his last breath in my arms on August 27th, 2013.”

She continued, “Still, I don’t want to hear ‘sorry for your loss’ because I got him back. He’s not lost anymore. I am finally starting to feel alive after about an entire decade. If you didn’t live those days with me, now you have a better understanding. I died mentally, physically, and emotionally for years. I am finally starting to revive.” Her belief brings new meaning to a short poem posted on Damen’s page just a month after he died. It reads: “Goodbyes are not forever. Goodbyes are not the end. They simply mean I’ll miss you until we meet again.”