Man admits to role in baby’s death

LETHBRIDGE A southern Alberta man charged with second-degree murder after his girlfriend’s nine-month-old son died has instead pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death.

The plea averted the trial Tyler Brian Hogan had been facing in Lethbridge Court of Queen’s Bench in the death of Austin Wright.

A statement of facts read in court said Austin died in April 2016 after Hogan tossed him onto a pile of pillows, blankets and a foam mattress topper in an attempt to calm the child.

The pile was on a hardwood floor, and a fan, a bag of objects and an open dresser drawer were nearby.

The statement noted that it isn’t known if Austin hit any of those objects, but he did stop breathing almost immediately.

Hogan acknowledged in the court document that his actions contributed to the baby’s death.

A sentencing hearing has been set for next Monday. Hogan remains free on bail.

Court heard that Austin had been fussing for several days because he had a cold and had been teething. He had a cough, a runny nose and a fever, and had at times vomited.

The agreed statement said the night before Austin died, he woke up about 3 a.m. and was vomiting and screaming. He appeared to settle down about 9 a.m., so his mother Jasmine Wright went to work and left the baby with Hogan.

At one point, Hogan attempted to feed Austin an oral solution in a bottle to rehydrate him. Shortly after that, the statement said Hogan began playing with the baby and tossed him into the pile of bedwear.

“Almost immediately after Austin was tossed beside the bed, Austin went into extreme medical distress,” the statement reads. “Austin pulled his head back, went limp and stopped breathing.”

Hogan tried to clear Austin’s mouth, but couldn’t. At around 10 a.m. he phoned Wright and she came home and called 911. Hogan admits in the statement that he should have called 911 earlier.

Paramedics tried to save the boy, but he was declared dead in hospital.

Police initially considered Austin’s death suspicious but not criminal. An autopsy determined that the primary cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma causing brain and spinal injuries, all of which happened in a time frame between three days and seven hours before his death.

“It was a total accident,” Hogan said in a video played in court of an interview with police. “I wasn’t trying to hurt him.”