A West Valley City man charged with murder and child abuse in the death of his infant son has been ordered to stand trial.
Jeremy W. Andus, 20, faces a first-degree felony charge of murder and a second-degree felony charge of child abuse in connection with the April 2011 death of his 4-month-old son Carter.
At a preliminary hearing Wednesday in 3rd District Court, a doctor from Primary Children's Medical Center said the child had tears in his brain tissue and damage to his brain stem injuries seen in the "worst of the worst" cases, Salt Lake County prosecutor Rob Parrish said.
According to court documents, a man heard screaming last April 21 outside his workplace and found Andus holding the "white and totally limp" baby in the back seat of a car. Doctors managed to revive the baby momentarily, but the child died from the "massive" head trauma, caused by shaking and an impact with a surface.
Doctors also found an older head injury.
In court Wednesday, the child's mother testified that the boy was fine when she left for work that day, but he was "slumped over and appeared to be unconscious with bad color" when she returned home, according to Parrish.
Andus also faces a misdemeanor charge of possessing drug paraphernalia. Police say a marijuana pipe fell out of his pocket as he struggled with officers trying to arrest him.
Andus is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges April 20.
afalk@sltrib.com