Police find missing San Antonio baby King Jay Davila's body in buried backpack on NE side

Arrest mug of Christopher Sampayo Davila, father of King Jay Davila. Arrest mug of Christopher Sampayo Davila, father of King Jay Davila. Image 1 of / 71 Caption Close Police find missing San Antonio baby King Jay Davila's body in buried backpack on NE side 1 / 71 Back to Gallery

Authorities found the body of 8-month-old King Jay Davila wrapped in a blanket and buried in a backpack on San Antonio's Northeast Side, according to court records.

The affidavit says Christopher Davila, the boy's father, led police to the burial site, located at a dead end near Castle Lance and Castle Prince, less than a mile from Davila's home. He is now charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission, a 1st-degree felony, along with felon in possession of a firearm, drug possession and tampering with evidence. His bail has been set at $1.25 million.

The discovery caps a week-long search for the missing child that captivated the city. It began with Davila calling police to claim the baby was inside a car that had been stolen from a San Antonio gas station -- a claim police said they almost immediately doubted.

Finding King Jay, however, is not the end of this investigation, McManus said.

"This is not the finish line, in fact, the hard part of the investigation is just beginning," he said. "The investigation won't be finished until we can answer how exactly King Jay died, who knew it, and when they knew it."

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According to an arrest affidavit, Davila, 34, told police he had been playing video games on Jan. 3 while King Jay sat in a car seat on a bed in his room. At some point, the car seat fell over, sending King Jay to the floor. Davila indicated the boy might have hit his head on a dresser on the way down.

Rather than seek medical attention for the boy, Davila apparently waited for several hours, then checked on King Jay and discovered he was dead, according to the affidavit.

"He said King Jay's death was an accident," San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said at a Friday morning press conference. "He panicked and did not call 911."

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Instead, he enlisted the help of his mother, Beatrice Sampayo, and his cousin, Angie Torres, to cover up King Jay's death by faking the kidnapping, officials said.

McManus said he and investigations noticed inconsistencies almost right away and continued to pull at those threads until the story came apart.

"When (Davila's) story started to unravel...it's when he broke down," McManus said. "His story weakened and he figured he wasn't going to get away with it."

Torres and Sampayo are facing charges of tampering with evidence, but investigators have requested arrest warrants for the two women on charges of injury to a child.

An autopsy on King Jay will likely be conducted today. McManus and newly installed DA Joe Gonzales said they will continue the investigation and additional arrests and charges are possible.

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Caleb Downs covers crime in San Antonio and Bexar County. Read him on our breaking news site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com |

cdowns@mysa.com | @calebjdowns