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A Logan man has pleaded guilty to fatally beating his 2-year-old son after the toddler went to the bathroom on the floor.
Mychal Denny, 23, admitted hitting Tyson Denny the morning of Aug. 22 - a blow that caused the child's death hours later, after Denny and his girlfriend fled with the boy to the Four Corners area.
Denny pleaded guilty to second-degree felony child abuse homicide on Thursday. He faces up to 15 years in prison when he is sentenced Oct. 24 by 1st District Judge Thomas Willmore.
Deputy Cache County Attorney Don Linton told The Tribune on Friday that Denny admitted to police that he struck the child in the stomach area with his fist and elbow because the boy had urinated and defecated on the floor.
An autopsy later showed the child's duodenum had been ruptured, which released toxins into the child's body. Denny also admitted choking the boy and rubbing his nose in the feces, Linton said.
Events began the morning of Aug. 22, when a family member called police to report the boy had a bloody tooth and bruises on his neck and cheek, Linton said.
Police looked at the boy and decided he should be examined by a doctor, Linton said. Not realizing the boy was suffering life-threatening internal injuries, the officers agreed to let Denny bring the boy and meet them at the hospital.
But when Denny never arrived at the hospital, police issued a state-wide alert for him and his vehicle.
It was close to midnight that day when Denny called 911 from the Four Corners area to report the boy was dead.
After calling 911, Denny - a Cherokee Indian - entered the Navajo reservation in Kayenta, Ariz., where officers arrested him.
Linton said Denny later confessed to police that he had struck the child in anger.
In exchange for Denny's plea to child-abuse homicide, prosecutors dismissed a charge of child abuse, also a second-degree felony.
Denny's girlfriend, Christina John, 25, is charged with third-degree felony child abuse for allegedly failing to report the abuse and for not getting the child to the hospital.
Linton said that while John must have been aware of the boy's facial injuries, there was evidence to show she knew Denny had struck the child a potentially fatal blow.
A preliminary hearing for John is set for Sept. 20.
Linton said Denny and John, a Navajo, lived together in Logan, and the victim's mother gave Denny physical custody of the boy about a year ago.