Man charged in Fayetteville child's death faces sex offense charges

Jamarkus Meshawn Smith, 26, of 520 Regency Drive was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree statutory sexual offenses and two counts of indecent liberties with a child.

On Tuesday, Smith was charged with felony child abuse after police responded to his Fayetteville home and found an unresponsive child. Investigators determined that the girl’s injuries were inflicted by Smith. She later died at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

The girl’s mother, Octavia Bennett-Smith, 27, was also charged with felony child abuse on Thursday.

The couple’s arrest prompted police to review a child death investigation from February 2014 that occurred at the home and involved the same parents. That death was initially ruled to be a case of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Smith was being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center, where his bond was increased from $1 million to $3 million secured bond.

Bennett-Smith was being held at the Cumberland County Detention Center under $1 million secured bond.