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SALT LAKE CITY — A Millcreek man was ordered Tuesday to spend between two and 30 years in prison for the killing of his toddler stepson.
Codey Levi Jolley, 28, was sentenced in 3rd District Court to two consecutive terms of one to 15 years for child abuse homicide and child abuse by inflicting serious physical injury intentionally, both second-degree felonies.
Jolley was charged with murder, a first-degree felony, in May, but pleaded guilty to reduced charges in August. Ethan Jay Antes, Jolley's 17-month-old stepson, died May 1 from injuries he suffered under Jolley's care two days before, police reported at the time.
Jolley originally claimed he had left Ethan alone in the bathtub for 20 seconds and returned to discover he was unresponsive in 1 foot of water.
However, doctors who treated Ethan believe he was not in that bathtub, but instead died "as part of an ongoing pattern of child abuse or inflicted injuries caused by another person," Jolley's charges state. Among the reasons for that conclusion is that the toddler's "hair and body were dry" when emergency responders attended to him.
Still, plea documents reference the alleged bathtub incident. In those documents, Jolley's account of events states he tried to resuscitate his unresponsive stepson by "inserting his finger in the child's mouth and compressing his chest so severely as to completely impair the child's ability to breathe."
As part of his plea, Jolley also admitted to forcing Ethan to take a hot shower, burning him, in a separate incident.
While looking into Ethan's death, investigators said they learned of two previously unreported incidents from when he was alone with Jolley that left him injured and were reported as accidents.
Third District Judge Richard McKelvie also ordered Jolley to pay a little more than $3,000 in restitution to the Utah Office of Victims of Crime. He may be required to pay additional restitution in the future.
