WEST JORDAN - The case of two parents charged with a homicide for "co-sleeping" with their 3 1/2 -month-old baby boy will proceed to trial, a 3rd District Court judge ruled this week.
Trevor Collet Merrill and Echo J. Nielsen, both 24, are charged with third-degree felony child-abuse homicide and class B misdemeanor reckless endangerment for the Aug. 19, 2006 death of Kayson Bradley Merrill.
The couple went to bed with the baby and awoke to find he was dead.
During a Jan. 1 preliminary hearing, Utah medical examiner Edward Leis testified that although he listed the baby's cause of death as "undetermined," the child most likely died because he was rolled onto his stomach during the night, and the face-down position obstructed his ability to breathe.
Leis testified he took into account that in 2003, the couple's first-born child also died while co-sleeping with the parents.
Like Kayson, 24-day-old Janessa Merrill also died from "positional asphyxia" because she was co-sleeping with her parents, Leis said. Janessa's death was listed as accidental.
Prosecutors say they brought homicide charges against the couple in connection with the second child's death because the earlier death should have made them aware of the dangers of co-sleeping with infants.
Defense attorneys claimed Kayson may have died from chronic meningitis. Leis listed meningitis as one of his findings, but said most infants survive the disease.
Pediatrician Valerie Rahaniotis, who saw Kayson the day before he died, called him "a perfectly healthy 3-month-old boy."
Rahaniotis said she detected no sign of meningitis. "He was not an ill child, at all," she said.
A scheduling hearing for the parents is set for March 4 before 3rd District Judge Michele Christiansen.
- Stephen Hunt
