Millcreek man takes plea deal in death of 17-month-old stepson

Millcreek man takes plea deal in death of 17-month-old stepson

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SALT LAKE CITY — A Millcreek man charged with murder in the death of his 17-month-old stepson pleaded guilty to reduced charges Friday.

Codey Levi Jolley, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree felony child abuse homicide, reduced from a charge of murder, a first-degree felony. Jolley also admitted to one count of child abuse, a second-degree felony.

In plea documents, Jolley admitted to leaving his stepson, Ethan Antes, alone in the bathtub for an extended period of time on May 1, returning to find the boy facedown in the water. Jolley attempted CPR, but his efforts instead kept the child from breathing.

According to plea documents, Jolley's attempts to resuscitate the boy included "inserting his finger in the child's mouth and compressing his chest so severely as to completely impair the child's ability to breathe."

Jolley also admitted that on a separate occasion he burned the boy when he forced him to take a hot shower.

At the time of Ethan's death, Jolley told police he had left the boy alone in the tub for 20 seconds while he checked on some food and returned to find him unresponsive in about 1 foot of water.

However, charging documents indicate doctors who treated the boy don't believe he was in the bathtub but died "as part of an ongoing pattern of child abuse or inflicted injuries caused by another person."

"(Ethan) was essentially dead when the first responders arrived, which means that there was some event that caused a sudden and massive collapse," charging documents state. "Dr. (Antoinette) Laskey said that it would be highly unlikely for a 17-month-old baby to suddenly die and that (Ethan) should have been revivable and not in such dire condition if he was only under water for 15 to 20 seconds.

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"The fact the baby's hair and body were dry when initial responders arrived, and that the tub was dry, makes Jolley's story even more unlikely," the charges state.

When Jolley called 911, he could not give dispatchers a street address for his apartment, and then initially gave officials the wrong apartment number, according to the charges. When emergency crews eventually found the right apartment, they found Jolley sitting on a bed and Ethan lying in a hallway. Jolley was not wet, the charges state.

Police investigating the death also learned of two unreported incidents in which Ethan was injured while alone with Jolley, according to detectives.

About three weeks before the incident that took his life, Ethan had scalding coffee spilled on his head and upper torso, causing first- and second-degree burns, police wrote in the report. A day before his death, Jolley told police Ethan had fallen from his high chair and hit his head on a coffee table, charges state.

Jolley faces potential prison sentences of one to 15 years for each of the second-degree felonies. Attorneys will argue at sentencing Oct. 11 whether to run the terms consecutively or concurrently.

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McKenzie Romero

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