A 23-year-old Utah man has been charged with murder in the beating death of his 5½-month-old son.
Shawn Malik Johnson of West Valley City was charged Friday in Third District Court with the first-degree felony. A week earlier, police responded to a report of a child not breathing and found Deyvion Johnson unresponsive. The infant was transported to Primary Children’s Hospital, where doctors reported a large bruise on the side of his head; a fractured skull; brain swelling and eye injuries.
Tests showed no brain activity; the baby was taken off life support on Saturday.
According to police, Shawn Johnson gave “multiple and inconsistent explanations” of how Deyvion was injured — blaming it on his 12-year-old autistic brother; on an accidental fall from a swing; and on an accident with a metal water bottle that hit the baby.
In court documents, police wrote that Shawn Johnson “changed his story” — that he “became frustrated when” the baby “wouldn't stop crying after he fell from the swing so he punched him in the head.”
According to the medical examiner, Deyvion Johnson died of blunt force trauma to the head.
Shawn Johnson was booked into the Salt Lake County jail; bail has been set at $1 million.
Follow @ScottDPierce