Eddie Salazar Sr. entered a plea of not guilty during an arraignment on a charge of second-degree murder.
Salazar appeared via video for the arraignment, which was held at 8:30 a.m. in Associate Circuit Judge Richard Copeland’s courtroom in Joplin via a video link to the Jasper County Jail in Carthage, where he remains in custody.
Salazar, 29, of Carthage, has been charged with the death of his 8-month-old son, also named Eddie Salazar.
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 in Spring River, a half-mile downstream from a bridge on County Road 85, east of Carthage.
