The Misery Machine - The Case of Genevieve Rozzlyn Comager

Starting point is 00:00:00 23-year-old Damian Commager didn't have the best start to life. Born in Louisiana to parents Ashley Holmes Sanford in Donald Commager, he was placed in the custody of his father at just three months old. From early on, young Damien struggled with mental illness and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in schizophrenia as a child. Although not all schizophrenics and folks with bipolar disorder are violent, Damien was. According to his mother, property managers at her home. in Houston, Texas,

Starting point is 00:00:31 witnessed Damien strangling a cat. She said, quote, Damian picked up a cat and killed him with his bare hands. They showed us where the body was and everything, end quote. He also had a habit of uttering threatening remarks at his younger relatives

Starting point is 00:00:47 and jabbering nonsense around them that Ashley regarded as demonic. She stated, Damien used to come to my house and threaten my grandson. He used to tell him all kinds of demonic, devil stuff. I used to be scared. According to Donald, he raised his son until he was 17 years old, after which the young man ventured out to see the world. During this time, Damien managed to

Starting point is 00:01:12 propagate a troubling criminal record. He had several prior arrests in the Pelican state for DV, assault, and criminal impersonation charges that dated back to 2021. Later, he moved to Colorado where he continued to catch charges. As of the date of this recording, Damien still has three outstanding warrants for once again putting his hands on people, failure to appear, and violating probation. Finally, Damien decided to leave the country altogether. He fled to Paris, France, where he met and began an online relationship with a beautiful Swiss woman named Ivana Paolozzi, who was 20 years old. Eventually, Damien moved to Switzerland to be with a young lady, Soon, Ivana became pregnant with the couple's first child, and the decision was made to travel to the States.

Starting point is 00:02:02 In December of 2022, Damien and Ivana moved to New York City. Three months later, the pair welcomed their daughter, Genevieve Rosalind, Comager, into the world. She was an adorable little girl with brown hair and big brown eyes. But the move to New York City proved to not be the opportunity that the couple had hoped for. Rather than raising their daughter in an apartment, the young family ends up. ended up in a homeless shelter located at 1041 University Avenue in the Bronx. The cramped conditions didn't do anything to help matters. On May 14th of 2023, Damien allegedly couldn't get Genevieve to stop crying.

Starting point is 00:02:41 Rather than walking away to take a moment to collect himself, the 23-year-old allegedly picked up his baby girl and began to violently shake her. Frustrated, Damien later admitted that he slapped the little girl. When Genevieve finally quieted down, Damien laid back down and went to sleep for the evening. However, when he woke up, he found the little girl cold and stiff. Panicked, he told Ivana, I think she's dead. Damien allegedly didn't want to take Genevieve to the hospital after he found her because she had marks around her neck and he feared that would raise suspicion around him.

Starting point is 00:03:17 Instead, the two parents did the unthinkable. Rather than seeking help, Damien and Ivana changed their children. dead daughter's diaper, cleaned her up, then they allegedly proceeded to dress the infant in a onesie and a hat, wrapped her in a blanket, and placed her in a stroller so they could leave the shelter without raising any suspicion. This gory stroll was captured on surveillance video outside of the shelter. The pair took Genevieve, still in her stroller, to a wooded area off of 161st Street and Major Deegan Expressway, just outside of Yankee Stadium. Rip trash bags in an old broken-down toilet littered the woods, which was next to a pedestrian overpass. This was not the type of

Starting point is 00:03:59 place that one wanted to hang around. It was precisely the type of place that Damien and Ivana decided would be best to dump their daughter. The pair allegedly placed the little girl's body in a garbage bag and hit her amongst the rubbish. Two weeks later, the administration for children's services reached out to Ivana. As the family was staying in a shelter, the agency was involved in their lives. Rather than taking this opportunity to come clean, Ivana told the caseworker that the family was alive, safe, and had recently relocated to Louisiana.

Starting point is 00:04:56 Really, they were all still in the Bronx and Genevieve was not alive or well. This would have been the moment that Ivana could have saved herself, yet she squandered it. It wasn't long before Damien's family knew something was amiss in their son's life. His mother, Ashley,

Starting point is 00:05:14 said she first realized something was wrong when her son stopped FaceTiming her with his baby girl in tow. According to the grandmother, I didn't ask why. I just thought he stopped FaceTiming me and we talked on the phone. I knew something was wrong when I wasn't hearing the baby. I asked him, how is the baby? He would say, the baby is fine. The baby is sleeping. According to Ashley, little Genevieve used to cry with some frequency. She previously suggested to her son that perhaps the baby was not properly, being fed. Damien told his mother that Ivana was breastfeeding, but it wasn't enough, and the couple didn't have money to buy formula. To help out the young family, Damien's mom, dad, and stepmom started sending money to buy formula. Ashley allegedly told her son,

Starting point is 00:06:00 anything you need for that baby, we will give it to you. A few days later, Ashley was having a conversation with Damien over the phone. She told him she was headed to Walmart to pick up some baby clothes, but Damien declined the offer, stating she had enough. He told his mother, Ma, I need some food, we are hungry. As Ashley didn't have any extra funds to send, she said she would reach out to his father, Donald, to see if he could help him.

Starting point is 00:06:28 This is when Damien allegedly fessed up. According to Ashley, Damien wanted to ask her a hypothetical question. He asked her, if I did something wrong, would you call the authorities on me? The mother told her son that it depended on what he did and not realizing that he had already done something completely unforgivable. Then Damien finally told his mother, she is gone, she is gone. The mother asked, gone where?

Starting point is 00:06:59 Ashley couldn't believe it. According to the grandmother, she hollered and hit her steering wheel. She said that's when she called his father, because to her, Damien sounded like he had no remit. Morse. The family had a three-way call which led to both Ashley and Donald turning their son into the police. But this wasn't even Damien's worst admission. According to Ashley, after allegedly telling her about the grim incident that led to Genevieve's death, the grandmother claimed that her son said he and his girlfriend were going back to Switzerland, where she was going to have another baby

Starting point is 00:07:32 and start all over again. According to Ivana's father, he'd been expecting a call from his daughter about a flight home. However, the call never came, and he instead learned his daughter was in police custody, along with her boyfriend in connection with his granddaughter's death. According to a sobbing Renee Palozy, quote, our daughter was a good girl, but she believed in him. It's really, really hard for us all. Nobody understands why she stayed with him, only her, end quote. The Swiss grandparents said they were left helpless when their daughter took up with a boyfriend they say was abusive. According to Ivana's mother, Irene, her husband considered the possibility that Damien might

Starting point is 00:08:16 one day kill their daughter. According to Renee, Damien had once become physical with him while staying with the family in their home just outside of Zurich. He had also beat Ivana bloody. The grandfather claimed that he reported the incident to the Swiss police. He said, quote, he slapped me and knocked me out at my own house. We had several times of terror with him. For the parents of a girl like Ivana, it is absolutely horrible.

Starting point is 00:08:43 We lost our daughter to him, end quote. The heartbroken parents shared the following words for their daughter. Quote, Dear Ivana, life is so cruel and brutal, but please never forget that we have all our hearts with you, and in such hard hours we would like to hold you in our arms. Much strength and love from the old homeland, end quote. Meanwhile in Louisiana, Donald Comager consulted with a religiously leader before deciding to do the right thing and turn his own son in.

Starting point is 00:09:13 According to the grandfather, quote, I called my pastor before I made the phone call. We prayed and he told me he can't tell me what to do, but I should do the right thing. That's when I made the call. That was my grandbaby, end quote. Afterwards, Donald contacted the police at the 44th precinct station house in the Bronx to inform them of his son's alleged horrific deeds.

Starting point is 00:09:35 According to Donald, I think it was an accident. I mean, I still had to say something. I couldn't say nothing. At the same time, Ashley contacted the administration for children's services. According to an ACS rep, quote, our top priority is protecting the safety and well-being of all children in New York City. As soon as the family came to our attention after this tragic matter arose, we launched an immediate investigation with the NYPD, end quote.

Starting point is 00:10:04 Soon, officers with the NYPD launched a search for little. Genevieve. Around 8.25 p.m. on Sunday, May 28, 2023, the little girl's body was recovered from the rubbish pile. She had been there, cold and alone, for two weeks. The stroller that the couple used to transport their daughter's body was also recovered at the dump site. Breaking news, the parents of a three-month-old girl charged in her death, one of them accused of murder. Good evening. I'm Christine Johnson. Marisse is off tonight. That child's body was found to discarded in a wooded area in the Bronx last night. Investigators found the remains near West 161st Street and the Major Deegan.

Starting point is 00:10:46 CBS 2's Navine Dali Wall spoke with the baby's grandfather who says his son confessed to the killing. Navine? Now, Christine, the baby's parents just walked out of the 4-4 precinct in the last hour, and now her father is charged with manslaughter and murder. And it was his own father, the baby's grandfather, who caught police and, told them something was wrong. As Damien Comager walked out of the police precinct he said this but now he's charged with murder and manslaughter after his three-month-old baby girl named Genevieve was found in a wooded area up west

Starting point is 00:11:25 161st Street Sunday night. I think it was an accident you know but so I mean I still had to face up I couldn't not say nothing. Damien's father the baby's grandfather Donald Comager who lives out of state says he's the one who call police after being concerned for his granddaughter on the phone he recalled his son's chilling words. I did call the police. And why did you call the police? Because what he told me?

Starting point is 00:11:51 What did he tell you? That she wasn't, she had passed away. And I asked him why and he told me that he was, he shook her and he laid her down because she was screaming and he shook her to lay her down and he went to sleep because he was tired, he went to sleep and wake up and she was, she was, she was, she was, he was, he was, he was, he She was cold. The baby's mother, 20-year-old Ivana Paolozi, now facing charges of concealment of a human corpse. It's terrific.

Starting point is 00:12:18 How did you go to drop a baby that did? Detectives say the child was staying at this shelter on University Avenue, not far from where she was found. Gailbert Belize would see the couple from time to time. On occasion, I would see them coming out the shelter, okay? They were pretty nice. I say good morning. Now the girl's father may have made a life-changing decision, and so did the girl's father. grandfather by making that call.

Starting point is 00:12:42 I said, you know, he might don't think I'd be it, but I think I'd be the right thing. Although little Genevieve's autopsy results are still pending, the medical examiner did in fact rule her death a homicide. If Damien's accounts of the evening of May 14th are truthful, then it's possible that Genevieve could have died as a result of shaken baby syndrome. According to the Mayo Clinic, shaken baby syndrome is a serious brain injury resulting from forcefully shaking an infant or toddler. Shaken baby syndrome destroys a child's brain cells and prevents their brain from getting enough oxygen. This form of abuse can cause permanent brain damage or death. Babies have weak neck muscles and can't support the weight of their heads. If a baby is

Starting point is 00:13:26 forcefully shaken, their fragile brain moves back and forth inside the skull. This causes bruising, swelling, and bleeding. Shaken baby syndrome usually occurs when a parent or caregiver severely shakes a baby, or toddler due to frustration or anger, often because the child will not stop crying. Damien Commager was arrested on May 29th and charged with homicide, manslaughter, and concealment of a human corpse. He's currently being held without bond. As he was walking out of the police precinct, he told officers, quote, I love my daughter and I'm sorry, end quote. When asked if he shook his baby, he said it was a mistake. Now, in pretty much every picture, Damien is seen wearing a Joy Division t-shirt.

Starting point is 00:14:10 I think it goes without saying that Joy Division fans do not condone any of Damien's actions. Ivana Pelosi was also arrested in charge with concealment of a human corpse, tampering with evidence, and obstructing governmental administration due to the lies she told

Starting point is 00:14:26 ACS. She was also in the U.S. illegally on an expired visa. At her arraignment, prosecutors argued that Ivana posed a significant flight risk due to the fact that she held a Swiss passport. Regardless, Ivana's charges made her ineligible for bail under the state's 2019 criminal justice reforms. Despite the fact that her son struggled with mental illness and was under a lot of pressure,

Starting point is 00:14:49 Ashla claims it does not excuse Damien's actions. She said, quote, it's no excuse for what he did. Both of them have to pay for what they did. The baby was three months old. She was defenseless. She couldn't fight back. I'm angry. I'm upset. I'm everything. There are no way. words. I loved that baby. She was a part of me, end quote. Still, Ashley insisted that despite all of this, Damien genuinely loved his daughter. She continued, quote, he is still my child. I still love him. He doesn't need to be put in jail. He needs to be put in a mental facility to do his time. She needs to go to jail. I don't know too much about her, but she sat up there and let a man kill her daughter. I loved my son, but at a certain age in life, you make your choices. He made that choice,

Starting point is 00:15:41 end quote. According to Donald, I'm hurting. I want everyone to know my son loves his daughter. The grandfather stated that he's still trying to make sense of this tragedy, but his immediate goal is clear. He said, quote, my main focus right now, you know, I know my son is locked up, but I am trying to get Genevieve's body to Louisiana so I can have a proper burial for her, end quote. A GoFundMe was started by a family friend to facilitate the same. The initial fundraising goal was set at $7,800 with a plan to cover the cost of Genevieve's final transportation from New York to Louisiana, her funeral ceremony, burial plot, death certificate, obituary, and any other fees associated with her end of life care. As of the date of this recording, the GoFundMe has raised $8,210.

Starting point is 00:16:29 If you're a new parent and are having difficulty with your newborn, help is out there. New parent education classes can help parents better understand the dangers of violently shaking a baby and may provide tips to sue the crying baby and manage stress. When your crying baby can't be calmed, you may be tempted to try anything to get the tears to stop, but it's important to always treat your child gently. Nothing justifies shaking a baby. If you're having trouble managing your emotions or the stress of parenthood, please seek help. Your child's doctor may offer a referral to a mental health provider.

Starting point is 00:17:03 If other people help take care of your child, whether a hired caregiver, sibling, or grandparent, make sure they know the dangers of shaken baby syndrome.

The Misery Machine - The Case of Genevieve Rozzlyn Comager

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.