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Clearfield man faces felony charges after 2-year-old suffers severe injuries

Posted at 9:08 PM, Nov 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-15 23:09:14-05

CLEARFIELD, Utah — A Clearfield man faces felony charges of child abuse and obstruction of justice after a 2-year-old boy was admitted to Primary Children’s Hospital with numerous head injuries and bruises on his body.

Terrell Christopher McCoy, 29, was booked into the Davis County Jail on October 21.

The boy was initially admitted into Davis Hospital in Layton that morning by his mother, 24-year-old Krystal Mellisse Garibay. Staff members at Davis Hospital observed that the boy was unresponsive and had suffered multiple injuries and bruises on his forehead, back, abdomen, legs and left foot. The toddler was taken by helicopter to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City.

Investigators with the Clearfield City Police Department interviewed Garibay, but she “gave multiple inconsistent statements” about how the boy was injured, the charging document said.

According to the document, Garibay first told police the boy slipped and fell trying to get out of the bathtub. In this initial statement, the document said, Garibay told police McCoy was at work when the incident in the bathroom occurred.

Later, the document said, Garibay told police McCoy was at the apartment when the incident occurred, and that McCoy spanked the boy, threw him on the ground and spanked him again.

“When confronted about the severity of [the boy]’s injuries, Krystal Garibay stated that Terrell McCoy ‘took it too far.’ She stated that she put [the boy] in the bathtub. Terrell McCoy then picked [the boy] up the armpits and ‘threw’ [him] onto the ground. She demonstrated this action […]  and showed him that Terrell McCoy ‘threw’ [the boy] down onto the ground head first. Terrell McCoy then began to kick [the boy] while he was on the floor. Krystal Garibay stated that she had to pull Terrell McCoy away from [the boy] to get him to stop,” the document said.

According to the document, Garibay admitted to police that she and McCoy talked about what they would say happened and agreed they would say the boy fell in the bathtub.

The charging document states McCoy admitted to being in the bathroom with the boy and spanking him both inside and outside of the bathtub. At one point, the document states, McCoy told police: “I hit him pretty hard and he fell.”

“Throughout the interview, Terrell McCoy stated he was stressed out due to his current living and financial situation with Krystal Garibay, her two sons, including [the alleged victim] and their new born daughter,” the charging document said.

The document states the boy’s brain was partially herniated, which required immediate surgery to relieve pressure on the brain. Other injuries listed include injuries in the boy’s neck muscles, spine and right eye. Doctors at Davis Hospital noted “multiple patterned bruises” on the boy’s body, indicating an object was used to inflict the bruises, the document states.

“Overall, the aforementioned constellation of injuries could not be explained by accidental injury, pre-existing medical illness, reasonable discipline, or benign events,” the document said.

McCoy faces a second-degree felony charge of child abuse and a third-degree felony charge of obstructing justice. Garibay faces a Class A misdemeanor charge of obstructing justice.

McCoy is due to appear at Davis County Justice Court for a pretrial conference on November 28.