This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Unified police have arrested a Midvale man under suspicion of trying to smother his girlfriend's infant son.

Police arrested the man Saturday morning and booked him into Salt Lake County Jail under suspicion of attempted child abuse homicide, as well as domestic violence and domestic violence in the presence of a child.

On Friday night, the man got into argument with his live-in girlfriend at an apartment on the 7900 South block of Main Street, said Unified Police Lt. Justin Hoyal. The 44-year-old man pushed the woman, and at some point in their argument, her 6-month-old son was crying, Hoyal said.

The boyfriend is not the baby's father, Hoyal added.

"He says he will go take care of the child … [eventually] the baby stops crying, she goes up to check on him and sees him with a blanket over [the baby's] face," Hoyal said.

The woman took the child and put him in the custody of an acquaintance while she crossed the street to the police precinct, Hoyal said. Officers checked on the baby and took him to Primary Children's Medical Center, where doctors found signs of previous child abuse in different stages of healing, along with injuries consistent with smothering, Hoyal said.

UPD is still investigating the older injuries and suspect the boyfriend, Hoyal said.

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