JBER soldier charged in infant son’s shaken-baby death

Fighter, support and carrier craft assigned to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson capable a runway during a 2020 “elephant walk” demonstration. (From Staff Sgt. Curt Beach/U.S. Air Force)

soldier astatine Anchorage’s Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson is accused of fatally shaking his babe boy while he was connected time off to attraction for nan kid this spring.

Spc. Antonius Meyers, 24, is charged pinch 2 counts of second-degree murder, manslaughter and six battle counts successful nan child’s death, nan authorities Department of Law announced Tuesday. Army officials opportunity Meyers, a mechanic successful nan 11th Airborne Division, enlisted successful 2021 and arrived successful Alaska successful May 2022.

A telephone to Meyers’ defense lawyer wasn’t instantly returned.

According to a charging archive against Meyers, Anchorage constabulary were informed April 4 that Meyers’ 28-day-old boy was astatine Providence Alaska Medical Center pinch thorax bruises and lesions connected his tongue. A CT scan connected nan kid showed he had suffered bleeding adjacent his brain.

Meyers’ woman told investigators that he had been fixed 3 months of paternal time off to thief attraction for nan child, and that Meyers looked aft him astatine nighttime while she cared for him during nan day. She said nan 3 of them had been sleeping together connected nan greeting of April 3 erstwhile Meyers took nan boy downstairs to provender him astatine astir 5 a.m.

“She said erstwhile she gave (the child) to Antonius, his eyes were unfastened and he was alert,” constabulary said successful nan document.

According to nan charges, Meyers initially told constabulary that he fed and burped his son, changed his diaper and they fell dormant connected a couch. When he woke up soon aft 8 a.m. to provender his kid again, he said, nan babe was unresponsive but still breathing.

Meyers said he took his kid to nan guidelines hospital, calling a caregiver while he was en route. The caregiver told him nan kid could person Shaken Baby Syndrome, encephalon injuries caused by forceful shaking.

According to nan charging document, Meyers said that he utilized immoderate unit connected nan child’s thorax to clasp him down while swaddling him and that he occasionally closed nan boy’s rima erstwhile he was crying to thief calm him down.

In a later interview, nan charges say, Meyers admitted to shaking nan babe arsenic he cried, successful a mode that made nan child’s caput sway guardant until his chin deed his chest. He besides said he had ne'er earlier utilized unit against his son.

According to nan charges, Meyers told police, “I’m not a bad person. I conscionable had 1 hiccup and I panicked.”

Soon afterward, a expert told a territory lawyer that nan child’s injuries “were considered non-accidental trauma injuries, accordant pinch a babe being shaken.”

Providence unit placed nan kid successful a medically induced coma, keeping him connected life support. A spokesperson for nan Department of Law said nan babe died May 15, pinch a expansive assemblage indicting Meyers connected execution charges June 19.

Meyers was being held Tuesday astatine nan Goose Creek Correctional Center. If convicted connected nan execution charges, he faces up to 99 years successful prison.