SALT LAKE CITY — A teenage boy charged with murder in the death of a West Valley City baby will be tried as an adult, Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said Wednesday.
Isaiah Weaver, 17, faces one first-degree felony count of aggravated murder and two second-degree felony counts of child abuse in connection with the death of his girlfriend’s son, 21-month-old Jaycieion Sanchez.
On January 16, police responded to a West Valley home after receiving a report that Jaycieion was unconscious and unresponsive.
West Valley Fire Department officials also responded to the home and performed CPR on Jaycieion, who was then transported to Primary Children’s Hospital and pronounced dead an hour later.
A doctor at Primary Children’s Hospital “noted that it was likely that [Jaycieion] had been deceased for some time before emergency personnel arrived,” a statement of probable cause said.
An autopsy performed at the Utah Office of the Medical Examiner revealed numerous injuries, and the cause of death was blunt force injury, the statement said.
“During the course of this investigation, we found out that the caretaker was physically abusing this child, in terms of hitting [him] with a coat hanger. There was bruising that was found on the face of the child. There was bruising on the body of the child. Subsequent medical examiner’s autopsy revealed a lot of internal injuries that were there,” Gill said.
According to police, Weaver had been babysitting for his girlfriend, Gena Sanchez, while Sanchez was at work that day.
“Instead of having a two year old birthday for my son, now I need to bury him,” Sanchez said in an interview with FOX 13. “I will never forget you Jay, I will never forget you. You’re always in my heart, and I will not rest until you get justice.”
The probable cause statement indicates Sanchez knew about some of the alleged abuse.
“She had seen Weaver spank [Jaycieion] on the bare buttocks, causing redness, and on one occasion she saw Weaver kick [Jaycieion] in the back. Weaver had told her that that he had left some small marks on [Jaycieion and one of his siblings] with a hanger. She had seen Weaver hit [one of Jaycieion’s siblings] in the mouth once, causing his lip to be puffy. She had noted that [Jaycieion] was scared of Weaver. Weaver almost never bathes the kids, but he had bathed them while she was at work on January 15, 2018. Sanchez saw strip marks on [Jaycieion]’s and [one of Jaycieion’s siblings]’s buttocks on January 16, 2018, and she saw marks on [one of Jaycieion’s siblings]’s chest on January 15, 2018,” the statement said.
Gill said his office is still reviewing that information.
“Our focus right now was to file against [Weaver], and we’ve done that, but we continue to investigate and to make sure that if there are any additional parties that we need to prosecute and to hold accountable, we will do so,” Gill said. “So, we continue to review this against the other person, but we have not reached any final decisions on that as of right now.”
