Affidavit: Suspect claims Dallas 18-month-old was unresponsive when placed in dumpster

DALLAS - The man arrested after the body of a missing Dallas 18-month-old was found in an area landfill claims the infant was unresponsive when he put him in a dumpster.

Sedrick Johnson has been charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury in connection with the death of Cedric Jackson. Dallas police announced the charge on Thursday, one day after an Amber Alert was issued for Jackson’s disappearance.

Johnson was arraigned on the charge on Friday afternoon and his bond was set at $500,000.

MORE: Suspect arrested after 18-month-old Dallas boy’s body found at landfill

According to an arrest affidavit, Johnson told police that Cedric had become unresponsive before he put him in a dumpster early Wednesday, and he had performed CPR on the infant for 30-45 minutes.

When questioned by police, Johnson said that Cedric was swaddled in his blanket on the floor, at the foot of the bed.

The affidavit states that Johnson explained that he swaddled Cedric to "restrict" his movement after the 18-month-old got up one night and "made a mess" by getting into ketchup packets. So Cedric was wrapped tightly to stop him from getting up in the night.

The night of Cedric's disappearance, at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, Johnson said he unwrapped Cedric, who then began throwing up, and became unresponsive. Johnson told police that he gave Cedric CPR for 30-45 minutes, according to the affidavit, and he felt like Cedric's heart was still beating, but he was not moving.

Johnson then drove Cedric to another location and put him in a dumpster. Cedric's body was found at a Rockwall landfill Thursday morning after the dumpster was emptied. Dallas police were back at the landfill on Friday conducting additional investigative work.

Jackson was living with his aunt at a Lake Highlands apartment building. She’s the one who reported him missing Wednesday morning.

Jackson was placed in the aunt’s care by CPS in May under an agreement with the child’s biological parents. Johnson is the aunt’s boyfriend. CPS investigators are now looking into why the boyfriend was caring for Jackson instead of the aunt.

“CPS does a background check on anyone we know lives in the home and if there’s anyone in the home with a serious criminal record CPS would not be onboard with the parents having the child go stay in the home,” CPS official said in a statement. “CPS is doing a careful internal review of all of the decisions and actions taken in this case.”

CPS revealed Thursday that six other children were removed from the apartment after Jackson’s death, two belonging to the aunt and four belonging to Johnson. The suspect, Johnson, has an extensive criminal history. Previous arrests include charges of child abandonment, assault and prostitution.