Trial underway for former Tomahawk man charged with killing newborn son in 2016
MERRILL – The trial for a 26-year-old former Tomahawk man charged with the 2016 death of his 23-day-old son started this week.
Henry R. Hughes, who currently lives with his parents in Bolingbrook, Illinois, is facing charges of first-degree reckless homicide and child abuse.
Jury selection was Friday and the trial started Monday morning with opening arguments. Jurors were in court until shortly after 3 p.m. Monday and back at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday. Lincoln County Judge Jay Tlusty dismissed one of 15 jurors Monday after the juror expressed a problem with the length of the trial. The judge dismissed a second juror Tuesday for an unknown reason after the juror gave the bailiff a letter.
The trial is expected to continue at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.
According to the criminal complaint, Hughes and the boy's mother took the baby boy a local hospital on Sept. 4, 2016. They told doctors the baby had been coughing and suddenly stopped breathing. The infant was then taken to Saint Joseph's Hospital in Marshfield, where he died Sept. 18, according to the complaint.
Hughes told police he was making dinner when the boy started to cry, then cough and turn blue, according to the complaint. He said he tried to give the boy CPR before taking him to the hospital. The boy's mother was at work at the time of the incident.
Doctors said the infant had abusive head trauma, several rib fractures and a fractured ankle, according to the complaint. Investigators said the baby boy's injuries were not consistent with Hughes' version of events.
A Lincoln County social worker testified during a February 2017 hearing that she went to Marshfield on Sept. 5, 2016, to evaluate the case. She said a Marshfield doctor told her the infant's injuries were caused by shaking or crushing and could not have been accidental.
Miller also said Hughes and his wife took the baby to the hospital a couple days before the incident. The baby had a high fever, but it had gone down by the time the pair got to a Rhinelander hospital, the social worker said. The doctor sent the boy home that night.
The trial is scheduled to last through June 3. If the jury convicts Hughes, he faces a maximum of 25 years in prison and 75 years of extended supervision.
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Contact Karen Madden at 715-345-2245 or kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @KMadden715, Instagram at @kmadden715 or Facebook at facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Trial for former Tomahawk man charged with killing infant son underway
