LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — On the wall of Kristina Kerlus' apartment hangs a canvas print of a heartbeat she'll never hear again, plaster casts of tiny hands she'll never hold, and a face relegated to photographs.
On lucite, she reads from a diagram of what the galaxy looked like on the night her youngest son was born.
"And it says, 'Flying high and dangling bright... My guiding star, my shining light,'" Kerlus reads.
Jocai Davis lived for less than 12 weeks. The flowers on his funeral wreath are now far older than the life they memorialize.
To understand his death, we have to go back to the last days of his life.
Oct. 4, 2018 was a normal day full of smiles, songs, cartoons and naps.
The next morning, Kerlus says, "I was at work and his dad (Jaevon Davis) called me and was like, 'He's not breathing.'"
Davis called 911, started CPR, and then Jocai was rushed by ambulance to Summerlin Hospital.
"I just kept clinging onto faith and hope that he was going to wake up," Kerlus said.
He was transferred to University Medical Center, put on life support, and died two days later.
Barely able to get out the words, Kerlus says, "There's no greater pain than losing a child. Losing a child is like losing yourself. You lose the ability to breathe."
Nine months after losing her baby, Kerlus lost her freedom when she was arrested and charged with murder for shaking Jocai so violently that it led to his death.
"I have zero faith in the justice system. It's a joke to me," she said.
Child Protective Services took Kerlus and Davis's other three children, placing them in their aunt's care.
"I was falsely accused! For four years, my children were removed from me! I couldn't find work," Kerlus told 13 Investigates.
Las Vegas attorney Ryan Helmick represented Kerlus in court.
"The first event that stood out to me was, I believe, the rush to judgment by the doctors at the hospital in that they immediately assumed it was abuse, and so they called the detectives," Helmick said.
He explained that police first questioned Kerlus and Davis at the hospital, "in the same room where the baby is basically fighting for his life — and they're trying to interview her at the same time. I think that was totally improper, totally uncalled for."
Helmick said detectives honed in on one photo of Jocai from the night before he was rushed to the hospital, "In his Boppy (an infant support pillow), asleep, with his head down in what they say is an awkward position."
That, combined with the Clark County Coroner's autopsy findings, led to Kerlus's arrest.
"When we saw that it was ruled a homicide, we were shocked beyond belief," Helmick said.
Jocai was born with Sickle Cell Trait which, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, affects one in 12 Black Americans. People with Sickle Cell Trait typically don't have any symptoms, but in rare cases, they can experience complications of the life-threatening disease.
The autopsy noted Sickle Cell Trait but also found bleeding in the brain, spinal cord, and behind the eyes — which can be symptoms of shaken baby syndrome.
Jocai's death was ruled a homicide due to blunt force head and neck trauma.
"That's the first thing they do is just zero in on child abuse without even doing further research," Kerlus said, "without even considering other options."
Helmick did that research, which included "a much deeper dive into this baby's death than the Clark County Coroner's office ever did."
Pediatric forensic pathology expert Dr. Evan Matshes evaluated the same evidence the coroner's office had.
"What's really interesting and important to this case is this piece of evidence," said Matshes, pointing to a slide. "Outlined in here is a very large, dilated and dead blood vessel which died while Jocai was still alive and ruptured, resulting in this bleeding. It's died because it's fully clotted off with sickled cells."
The CDC says sickled cells "become hard and sticky... And they get stuck in small blood vessels."
"Red blood cells, and that's what we're looking at, should be shaped like a double-sided disc," said Matshes. "They usually have two dimples in the middle. And his are like ellipses, like sickles. You don't expect most Sickle Cell Trait people to develop sickling, but he has. And it's widespread."
"How did the coroner not see this?" Kerlus asked. "His Sickle Cell was everywhere in all his blood slides."
13 Investigates tried to ask that of Dr. Jennifer Corneal, who conducted Jocai's autopsy. She has since left the Clark County Coroner's office. Via email, she said she had no comment.
Matshes found evidence of sickling throughout Jocai's entire body, concluding the baby died of natural causes.
As a result, the state's case came to a halt last December.
In court, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michelle Jobe told District Judge Carli Kierny, "Your honor, based on further investigation, the State does not believe it can prove the elements of the criminal charges beyond a reasonable doubt, therefore the state is voluntarily dismissing this case."
But the dismissal was without prejudice — meaning the state could re-file charges in the future.
Helmick tried to argue against that, telling the judge, "The medical aspect of this case is not going to change, period, because that's what it is. If it's without prejudice, she has this gray cloud that's still going to hang over her head for the rest of her life, because we don't know if this charge will ever come back."
"I don't make the charging decisions," responded Judge Kierny. "The state gets to decide when and how they prosecute cases. You have obtained a pretty miraculous result already with them agreeing to dismiss it voluntarily."
They tried one more time at a hearing in February of this year. The D.A. wouldn't budge and neither would the judge.
"All I will say is that the state has done exactly what it should do," Jobe said in court.
Judge Kierny said to Helmick, "While I understand where you're coming from and I do feel for you guys, there's just nothing that allows me to grant this motion, and so it is denied."
"They tried so hard to break me," said Kerlus, through tears. "The justice system tried so hard to break me."
13 Investigates worked to help fix at least one system failure.
After a 10-month delay, the Clark County Coroner's Office gave Kristina the amended autopsy report. The county produced it on Tuesday after learning we were investigating.
The amendment changes the cause and manner of death. Instead of trauma and homicide, it now says "undetermined."
Had that been the case initially, it's quite possible Kerlus would never have been charged.
13 Investigates has learned there are many cases across the country where medical personnel and law enforcement drew conclusions about abuse and falsely accused parents of hurting their children, and it isn't limited to shaken baby syndrome.
As our investigation continues, we'll examine those cases, some of which landed parents or caregivers in prison for crimes they did not commit.