Foster dad gets 25 years in tot's death

Haney pleaded guilty in fatal beating of boy, 21/2

The Denver Post

Following an emotional court hearing Wednesday, Ricky John Haney was sentenced to 25 years in prison for causing the death of his 21/2-year-old foster son.Haney, 38, had pleaded guilty to criminally negligent child abuse resulting in the death of Miguel Arias-Baca on Jan. 31, 1999, after he returned home from a Super Bowl party and found the child's diaper soiled.

"The judge made his feelings very clear - Mr. Haney was responsible for that death and he had to pay the consequences," said Bob Grant, Adams County district attorney. "We're very satisfied with the outcome."

Haney's attorney, Jeff Pagliuca, argued that the death was an anomaly and that Haney should be placed in a halfway house instead of prison.

"Ricky Haney is a very nice guy with no history of violence. He does not know how or why this happened," Pagliuca said after his client's guilty plea in May. Pagliuca could not be reached Wednesday for comment on the sentencing.

The case came to the attention of police when Haney and his wife, E'von, brought the unconscious Miguel to the hospital at 1 a.m. on Feb. 1, 1999. The couple claimed he had fallen off a toilet.

The boy died the next day, and an autopsy showed the cause of death was non-accidental massive head injury. He also had bruises over most of his body.

On Feb. 8, after learning of the autopsy report, Haney confessed to police.

He said he had returned home from watching the Super Bowl at a friend's house and found that Miguel had soiled his diaper.

Haney, who had been drinking, picked the boy up and slammed him to the floor. The back of the boy's head hit the floor, Haney told police. Haney also admitted he smeared the child's face with feces.

"It was a matter of child abuse. It was a matter of neglect," Grant said. "Certainly that 25 years is an adequate measure of responsibility if there can be such a thing when you've got a dead 3-year-old."

But Grant also placed some responsibility for the death on the foster care system.

"It's a horrible thing when the state puts a child in a situation of greater danger than what it takes him out of," Grant said. "The social services system has an important responsibility in following up and ensuring the safety of the kids in the system. The system failed in this instance."

Miguel and his 14-month-old brother were placed in foster care when social workers took them away from their mother because she had abused drugs.