A second-degree murder charge is being filed today against Eddie Salazar Sr., according to Jasper County prosecutor Dean Dankelson.
Dankelson said physical evidence and statements made by the father indicate he was responsible for the child’s death. The death occurred around 9:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 4, when the child was in the sole custody of his father. The child apparently died from blunt head trauma, according to autopsy results.
“I believe the child was dead before he ever went into the river,” Dankelson said.
The autopsy also indicated other bone fractures and a skull fracture, which authorities believe was inflicted that night.
Baby Eddie was the subject of an Amber Alert after his father told police on Feb. 4 that two men in masks broke into the family’s home at 227 E. Mound St. and abducted the child. Less than 24 hours later, authorities learned that the boy’s father fabricated the kidnapping story.
The baby’s body was discovered by searchers on Feb. 7 in Spring River, a half-mile downstream from a bridge on County Road 85, east of Carthage.
