Trial set in tot's death

Boy's foster father charged with abuse

The Denver Post

BRIGHTON - Miguel Arias-Baca died slowly and painfully, his 2 1/2-year-old brain swelling with blood and his face smeared with his own feces for soiling his diapers, witnesses told an Adams County judge Friday.

Judge Donald Marshall bound Miguel's foster father, Ricky Haney, over for trial in district court on a charge of child abuse resulting in death. An arraignment is set for May 6.

At Friday's preliminary hearing, a Westminster detective said the first key witness against Haney was his own stepdaughter, followed by his wife, E'von. Suspect blamed wife

In statements to Westminster police, Haney, 37, in turned blamed his wife for Miguel's Feb. 2 death. In court, his lawyers suggested E'von conspired against her husband with the help of her daughter and her mother.

But Detective Nancy Lee testified that after claiming his wife had shaken Miguel and banged his head on a bunk bed, Haney finally confessed to throwing the boy to the floor from a dresser.

"He stated that he didn't mean to hurt Miguel, that he didn't mean to kill the baby," Lee said. "He was upset with Miguel because he had messed in his diapers."

She said Haney rubbed Miguel's nose in the dirty diapers after inflicting a fatal head injury, and that his stepdaughter, Justine, later saw the dying baby sitting on the bathroom toilet "with poop all over his face."

Tearful testimony

The detective briefly choked back tears as she recounted Justine's description of the bathroom scene. Miguel's mother, Odelia Baca, wept silently in the courtroom, then left.

Miguel was placed in the Haneys' home last year by All About Kids, a private, state-licensed child placement agency, after his mother was accused of abusing drugs. His death is one of several cases that have triggered a state investigation of its foster-care and child-protection systems.

Witnesses testified Friday that Miguel was fatally injured in the celebratory hours after the Denver Broncos won their second straight Super Bowl on Jan. 31. The Haneys had taken his son and her daughter to a Super Bowl party, leaving their four foster children with a 14-year-old babysitter.

When they returned at 9 p.m., Miguel was still awake. E'von and her daughter, Justine, took the babysitter home, leaving Haney to put Miguel to bed. All three later told police that they heard a loud thump as they were getting into the car that sounded as if it came from upstairs. Kept on life support

Four hours later, early Feb. 1, the Haneys took Miguel to the hospital. He was kept on life support and died a day later.

Dr. Robert Deters, a pathologist, testified he found "a rather large amount of bleeding inside the cranial cavity" behind Miguel's left ear, about enough to half-fill a small paper cup.

Deters also found an older injury, a six-pronged bruise mark on Miguel's chest. Under questioning from Haney's lawyers, Detective Lee said the mark closely resembled a ring belonging to E'von Haney and admitted she had "not directly" asked E'von about that injury. Implicated by family

E'von initially told police Miguel had fallen from a toilet. But E'von's daughter and mother called police the next day, and Justine came with her grandmother to give a statement that implicated Haney.

E'von came in a day later, telling police she was frightened of her husband, who was alternately blaming her for Miguel's death and suggesting they commit suicide together or flee to Cuba or Russia.

She and Justine told police Miguel had been lying naked on a couch, staring straight up and making strange noises, while she tried for at least an hour to get him to respond to her.

Ricky Haney was arrested March 4 and posted bail two weeks later. In court Friday, he sat quietly at the defense table.