By Jeff Lehr
jlehr@joplinglobe.com
Eddie A. Salazar entered a plea of innocent Thursday to a charge of second-degree murder in the Feb. 4 death of his 8-month-old son.
Salazar, 29, appeared for his arraignment in Jasper County Circuit Court in Joplin via a video link with the county jail in Carthage, where he is being held without bond.
Public defender Maleia Cheney, who has been representing Salazar since an initial count of making a false report to police was filed against him Feb. 6, was appointed by Associate Circuit Judge Richard Copeland to also act as the defendant’s attorney on the murder charge.
The defendant’s next hearing date in the murder case will be March 17. A date for a preliminary hearing has yet to be set.
Salazar is accused of causing the death of Eddie A. Salazar Jr. while the baby was in his care at their home in Carthage. A probable-cause affidavit puts the time of death at about 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 4. The boy’s mother, Yadira Aguilar, was at work at the time, according to authorities.
Salazar placed a 911 call at 11:04 p.m., claiming that two masked men entered the home while he was sleeping and abducted the baby. He told investigators that he awoke and struggled with the intruders, but was knocked unconscious. An Amber Alert was issued, and a massive search was launched for the child and his abductors.
But, investigators say, the father’s story fell apart in less than 24 hours. The baby’s body was found and retrieved Feb. 6 from Spring River east of Carthage.
An autopsy conducted by the Boone County medical examiner’s office determined the cause of the baby’s death to be blunt-force trauma to the head. The autopsy revealed a skull fracture and other bone fractures, which investigators have declined to specify. Investigators have declined to say how the fatal injury to the child was inflicted.
