- Mindy Deanna Murray, 25, faces child torture and aggravated abuse charges stemming from the alleged mistreatment of a boy.
- A witness reported seeing the woman beat the boy last January after picking him up from school, after school officials asked him about surgical staples in his head.
OGDEN — An Ogden woman was charged Friday with torturing a 7-year-old boy.
Mindy Deanna Murray, 25, is charged in 2nd District Court with child torture and two counts of aggravated child abuse, first-degree felonies, and accused of physically abusing the boy when he was 6. Charging documents identify Seferino Echeverria, 26, as a co-defendant, but formal charges have not been filed against him.
The boy suffered multiple injuries in Wyoming that were reported by family members, a school nurse and a school administrator, according to charging documents.
"The victim's father could not provide (a) good explanation on how these injuries occurred. The school reported the victim's injuries to Family Services, and the father and (mother) left the state and came to Utah," the charges say.
Officials at his new Ogden school noticed visible injuries on the boy's first day. After the Christmas break, police say he returned with staples in his head. Queried by school officials, the boy said he "had slipped in the shower and required medical treatment." Murray later picked him up at the school, and a witness reported seeing her subsequently beat the boy in a car, according to the charges.
"The witness later observed the arrestee holding the victim down in the back seat, hitting him on the side of the face that had already been injured previously. The witness estimated the arrestee had hit the victim 10-12 times," the charges allege.
Investigators later contacted the boy at his home in Ogden, finding a new injury on his forehead. "The arrestee and victim's father could not provide an explanation for how the victim's head was injured. The victim was removed from the care and custody of his father and (Murray)," the charges state.
The boy reported that Murray was "always mean," made him lie to a doctor and threatened to hold his head under water if he told anyone the truth about how he was injured, the charging documents say.
Murray made her first appearance in court on Monday and is being held without bail.
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Tim Vandenack
