Investigators said the 17-month-old boy died after a liquid mixture was put into his feeding tube.
BAY MINETTE, AL — A Baldwin County mother was charged Tuesday after investigators said she admitted giving her 17-month-old son a liquid solution through his feeding tube before he died at a Mobile hospital.
Kaitlynn Dominick, 22, faces charges of manslaughter and aggravated child abuse involving a child younger than 6, the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office said. The charges followed a more than two-week investigation that began after hospital staff raised concerns about the boy’s lab results and death. Authorities said the child had a medical condition that required a surgically implanted gastric feeding tube for nourishment.
The investigation began May 5, when the Alabama Department of Human Resources contacted the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office about concerns reported by a physician at USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital. Investigators said Dominick had brought her son to the hospital on May 4. The child died the next morning. Capt. Justin Correa of the sheriff’s office said investigators “came to the conclusion that there was a concoction, a liquid mixture” put into the child’s preexisting feeding tube, which led to the medical emergency and then the child’s death.
Authorities have not released the full contents of the mixture. Correa said investigators did not believe it contained alcohol, bleach or illegal drugs. He said the mixture may not have affected a healthy adult the same way, but it was dangerous for a 17-month-old child with medical problems. The sheriff’s office said Dominick gave inconsistent statements early in the case. Investigators later interviewed Dominick, medical workers, family members and others with relevant information before saying she admitted mixing the liquid solution and giving it to her son.
The child was identified in a public funeral home tribute as Patrick Knox Dominick-Conly, who was born Nov. 29, 2024, and died May 5, 2026. The tribute described him as a bright-eyed child who loved being outside, playing at the park, chasing bubbles and carrying a favorite lovey and pacifier. It said he was surrounded by his mother and father at the hospital when he died. Authorities have not said when the child’s underlying medical condition began or whether it played any role beyond making him more vulnerable to the mixture investigators described.
Correa said investigators believe Dominick knew the mixture would harm the child. “We think that what occurred was intentional on Ms. Dominick’s part,” Correa said. He said the charges were filed after talks with the Baldwin County District Attorney’s Office and were considered the most appropriate charges at this stage. The sheriff’s office said no more details would be released because the case remains open. Dominick was booked into the Baldwin County Jail, and a bond hearing was scheduled for Wednesday morning.
The case moved from a hospital concern to a criminal charge over three weeks. The child was brought to USA Health Children’s & Women’s Hospital on May 4, died May 5, and Dominick was charged May 26. The sheriff’s office said the mandatory report from the hospital was made because staff were alarmed by lab results. Mandatory reports are a required step when medical or child welfare workers suspect possible abuse or neglect. In this case, the report sent the matter to DHR and then to sheriff’s investigators.
Officials have not said whether more charges are possible or when prosecutors may present the case in court. Investigators also have not released an autopsy report, a full medical finding or the exact substance they believe was placed in the feeding tube. The next public step is expected to come through Baldwin County court proceedings, including the bond hearing and any later filings by prosecutors. Dominick has been charged, not convicted, and the case remains under investigation.
Author note: Last updated May 27, 2026.