Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Ohio Dad Squeezed and Shook Baby To Death

Episode Date: January 6, 2026

Joseph Bonito called 911 in February 2025 and said that his 4-month-old son was not responding. When police arrived, they found Carson Bonito on the couch not breathing. Later that day, Joseph confessed to shaking Carson out of frustration, squeezing him tightly and causing older rib fractures. Bonito is now serving a prison sentence for Carson's death. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through body camera footage from that day and Bonito's police interview in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/CrimeFixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Russell ButtonCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Do you like I feel as a father? Joey Benito is talking to a detective about his four-month-old son, Carson, who died in his care. I'll be able to get a cigarette crime. Within hours, Bonita would end up in handcuffs, accused of murdering his young son. I go through the horrific case out of Ohio and who Joey, Bonito tried to blame for his baby's injuries.

I'm Ann Jeanette Levy, and this is crime fix. You know, there's a reason that Morgan and Morgan is America's largest personal injury law firm. It's because the firm fights for its clients and wins a lot in court. The firm has more than 1,000 lawyers that have recovered $25 billion for more than 500,000 clients. In the last few months alone, a client in Florida got $12 million when the insurance company offered just $350,000. In Pennsylvania, another client won $26 million. That was 40 times the insurer's offer. Morgan and Morgan makes it really easy to fight for what you deserve.

You can even start a claim from your phone. So if you're ever injured, you can start a claim at for the people.com slash crime fix. Click the link below or scan that QR code that you see right there on your screen. Carson Bonito was a cute little four-month-old baby, who, like any other baby, completely relied on his parents to love and care for him. But in February of 2025, baby Carson's life was cut short by his father. The case takes us to Fosteria, Ohio. That's about 40 miles south of Toledo. It was February 11th when Joseph Bonito called 911 to report that his four-month-old son wasn't breathing. My baby's not responding. He's white, and I don't know what's wrong. Okay, what's the address? I went to make a nap. You said, go get him up, and he just wasn't responding.

Police and DMTs raced to the scene. As an officer drove through the mobile home park where Bonito lived, EMTs arrived. An officer wrote in his report, upon my arrival on scene, I approached the front door to the trailer and proceeded through the opened front door. I encountered who I would later learn to be 20. 24-year-old Joseph D. Bonito. Mr. Bonito was distraught and explained to me that he had awakened to his four-month-old son Carson Bonito unresponsive and not breathing. Carson was lying on his back on the couch immediately inside the front door of the trailer. I immediately began performing chest

compressions on the infant. Carson was wearing a print one-piece outfit that was damp to the touch. Carson's hands appeared pale, white in color. His face was pale white as well with patches of blue coloration, blue lips, and blue mouth. The call doesn't get any more serious than this. EMTs took over to try to save baby Carson. One officer's dash camera recorded Joseph Benito talking to an officer outside of his mobile home. As Bonito talked to an officer, apparently explaining what happened, the officer pulls away and follows the ambulance to the hospital as it carries baby Carson away. The medics are hoping that something can be done to save the baby boy's life.

He's only four months old. After Carson arrives at the hospital with medics and doctors had tried to treat him, police notify his parents that the little boy cannot be saved. So Carson's venturing transported, okay? He's going to go up to Lucas County. And that process, kind of helping us answer those questions is going to start. Okay. This is what kind of job and family services.

I'll let her introduce yourself. Nice to meet you. I'll be your caseworker for the next 30, 45 days or so. Could be longer, but I'll just give you more information when we get more into it. But I did have a couple questions regarding. You have another child. The other child is Carson's older brother. The caseworker and detectives spoke to Carson's mom, who is Joseph Benito's girlfriend for a short time in that room at the hospital. They're in there for several minutes, and you can see Carson's mom is grief-stricken. a trash can sitting in front of her. Her baby boy is gone. The detective separates Joseph Benito from Carson's mom, and it doesn't appear that she was home when Carson was hurt, and he asks her about her day.

My alarm normally goes off at 5.30, but I actually woke up at 5 this morning. I started getting ready for work. I went and got coffee and got my... lunch around. He woke up around 6 and he was fast naping up in the room. And I got him and changed the diaper

and gave him the call. He was smiling at me. He was doing pretty good. And then he laid back down around. back down around 610, 615. Um, didn't really fuss too much about it. He was extremely fussy yesterday and he kept home asleep a lot yesterday like he was ill. I thought he was just kind of teething.

But I ended up leaving the house at 620 like I did. like I do every one, and that's when I go to work. They're around seven. And from that home was working. Okay. Tell me about Joey as a dad. How is Joey do as a dad? Excellent.

He was a very good dad. He did amazing with our first son. with our first son. We have had a little bit of problems with our first son, being, throwing his toys at our action. And so we did have to take a lot of his harder toys away. Sure. So breathing actually could be from that,

but he was getting bruises on his face. Carson's mom goes on to tell the detective that Joseph is on disability for severe scoliosis, and he asks whether Joseph takes medication. for his mild schizophrenia, and she says that he does not. The detective tells her that doctors discovered that Carson had a collapsed lung that could not have come from CPR, and he had older rib fractures. Then detectives spoke to Joseph, who goes by Joey. The detective reads Joey his rights and tells him he's being recorded.

It's after 4 p.m. So what time did you do we? wake him up this morning. It was around 536 because that's when my wife passed to wake up around work and get ready. So you fed him a bottle 536? Yes. Okay. Yes. Okay then what happened? And I sat him on my lap and I burped him. He burped a few times for me. How did you help? I take him, I put him right because it's on a comfortable way for him. I shut him down on my lap right here.

Okay. And I lightly put my hands around and I rock slowly. Okay. So is he outward facing or inward facing? Outward. Yeah. So you're rocking like this? Yeah.

Yeah, gently. Yeah. Yeah. Joey tells the detective that he put Carson down in the bassinet after the burping and took a nap. When I messaged my wife, that's when I wasn't like, I didn't get up to actually get him. quite yet. Okay. That's when I messaged her let her know, hey, I'm getting up and I'm going to get him fed. Okay. Okay. And that's when I saw him like that. I took him out of the crib. I put him on the couch and I tried to do chest compressions. Okay. So describing me what you saw when you looked in the crib? When I looked in the crib, there was, I don't know what it was. There's brown on his face. Okay.

And he was pale. Was a pillow in the crib? I don't think so. It was, because the doctors have also told us that you not do that because he had like a bald spot on the back of his head. From light on his back on it, yeah. So we took that out.

Okay. Just feel like I failed as a flower. I don't think that's the case, man. I'm a dad too, Joey, and these things can happen to anybody. I've tried so hard to save him. The detective then asked Joey Bonito about Carson's injuries, and the father, blames Carson's older brother. Did you notice any bruising on Carson on his chest or anything out of that? No.

Oh, God. He did have some small bruising on his chest. Okay. Do you have any idea where that could have came from or anything like that? That could have been from his brother grabbing him to be fair because he gets grabby. Okay. And he goes. When he grabs, he goes like...

He's like pinching? Yeah, he pinches really hard. Okay. Okay. What, uh, so the doctors explained that obviously they had some concern with the bruising. Yeah. But the larger concern was that there were some rib fractures and they're called old. There were older rib fractures.

So there were fractures that had occurred but it started to heal. So it's not anything. Sometimes when I go to pick them up, I sometimes don't realize I'm picking up a little hard. So that might have been from me picking them up a little too hard sometimes and I don't need to do it. Okay. It's a genuine mistake. Sure. Okay. So he also noticed a collapsed lung. Did you have any concern about his brain or anything like that?

He's been, his lung's been really rasty. Okay. The past, I think it's been a few months he's been really rasty. When do you think the last time was it, you might have grabbed him up a little? It might have been yesterday by accident. Okay. Because it was a little drowsy. Sure. Didn't realize. He was all smiles this morning when my wife got up, got ready for work, and I got him fed around that time. He was all smiles. He was cooing, laughing at us.

The detective is skeptical and confronts Joey about his suspicions that he's not being completely honest. And Joseph, if you didn't pick him up, it's okay to tell me that, too. If he was in that crib, the whole time from when she left to what we got there, that's okay. too. It doesn't mean that you're a bad dad. Doesn't mean you're a bad person. But these are the things I got to know because the way his body was, I think he had been there a while. I think he had been there a lot longer than what you're telling. I might have. Just, it's okay. But you got to tell me, man, I got to know these things. He might have been laying there for a minute while I was asleep, but like I said, I didn't even know. How would you know? So between 6.20 and when we got there

11 or when you found him at 1144 you can't tell me for sure that he was alive i'm not even for sure to be honest with you i'm not going to sure about it i'm not asking you too it's okay if i'm if you haven't got finished sleep and the baby's quiet and resting i'm not doing anything different as a bad i know but i just feel like a veil of no failure here man definitely not a failure after this the detective and child services worker leave the room but then they return and after that police say the detective confronted joey benito about the importance of him being honest and his inconsistent statements eventually the detective said joey benito said i might have shook him a little when i was frustrated and this happened around eight a m the detective

then told him that he thought that Bonito was feeling grief and guilt. Bonito is quoted as saying, I did shake him around the time I told you, and he calmed down after that. The detective said that Bonito admitted to shaking Carson less than 20 times, but more than three times in his short life. The detective said Joey Bonito admitted to causing Carson's older rib fractures, but didn't want to admit to it because he was afraid. After four o'clock that day, Joseph Bonito, And the woman, he called his wife, who was actually his girlfriend, as I mentioned, sat in the lobby of the Fostoria Police Department under the watchful eye of an officer. Then the detective emerged from a room. Okay. So I talked with our prosecutor's office and with everything that's going on, we are going to charge you tonight. You're going to spend a little time in jail. Okay. So I'm working on what they're going to charge you with, but they're looking at a child in danger for right now.

So we're going to cover to office. Okay. And we're going to have, we're going to end up to be going to Wood County tonight. Okay. All right, so we're going to put you in mind your back house. Sir Jason's going to handle that part. Put them again on like your pram? Yeah.

You got cigarettes with you? You got cigarettes with you? Okay. We can dig some. You can smoke. smoke. Now to try it, this one's just to sit here. Hold on, let me listen a little bit. This one's do today.

Just, I'll stay here. You get? Yeah. Do you want your jacket going with this? Yeah. I'm just going to throw it right over your shoulder there, right? I'm just going to wait in here until they detect it tells us otherwise. I'll step over here.

So if you want to step over here so we don't get anybody's left. You can hear a woman sobbing in the background as Joseph Bonito stands in the hallway in handcuffs. The detective has likely told his girlfriend that Bonito is being charged with child endangering and possibly more. If you want to go that way with him just to the end of the hallway, I'm going to take them around, take them back up to the lobby, and then we can just book him in

back here. Let me stand over there then? Yeah, just go down the hall for a minute. Oh, God, I don't know. I don't know. I'll go to this in the church. I don't know. There's a lot of your church.

Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. This is the house. She can't. She can. At least that you can't.

And she can. They can go to home. Or she do. I'll just go out of your way. Right here. We're going right here. We're going right back to that same conference where we're at. I don't know.

I don't have any more. I'm looking at any horn. Stupid. I just thought it was weird. I didn't think you could move to these just a little bit. Not a lot. I said that one was pretty long more day. Yeah, just appreciate it.

Is that a little better? Yeah. I don't be able to get a cigarette, right? I was not, I'm not trying to bother yet. No, I was going to say, I don't, me personally, I don't. I don't know if the detective is doing that right now. Then Bonito learns he's being charged with taking baby Carson's life. One of them is a child endangerment because it resulted in Carson's.

death the other one's a murder charge okay so there's those are the two charges so one's enough two and the other ones in a classified felony so that's where we're at these are your copies okay so I'll give them to you and you can look at them you don't happen to you're gonna go to Wood County tonight okay and then you'll have a ring with tomorrow so is there any way I'll talk to my wife or anything you'll be able to make calls in the jail officer Miller's gonna take you know okay did you ever get my nicotine baby no they didn't have it sorry man we gotta quit anyway so that's a good time do me a favor set the paper on the table put your hands behind your back

for me put them together like you praying just put them together just like that Hold tight just for a second here. And another second. Let me get the lock up here real quick. So Joseph Benito doesn't get his nicotine vape like he wanted before the police take him to jail for the murder of baby Carson. He rides to the jail where he'll be booked. All right.

You can go ahead and step on out here. Just going to walk right over by this red door here. Go ahead right on in here. And we're just going to hang out right about here. Bonito is booked on the murder and child endangering charges. In November of 2025, just months later, he pleaded guilty to involuntary. voluntary manslaughter and felonious assault. He was sentenced to between 11 and 16 and a half years in prison. He's serving that time now. Baby Carson's family remembered that little baby in his

obituary for his infectious smile and his cooing. They said he was a little chatterbox. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Janette Levy. Thank you so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time. Thank you.