Dykstra trial set for May

A former Iowa City man accused of killing his infant son in 2005 will stand trial on May 10, 2010, according to online court records.

Brian Dale Dykstra, now living in South Carolina, was originally scheduled to go on trial Aug. 17 and 31. However, his attorney Leon Spies filled motions for a continuance, asking for more time, a motion granted by Judge Mitchell Turner in an order filed Monday. Dykstra will stand trial on May 10, 2010, with a pre-trial conference set for April 29, 2010.

According to police, Dykstra, 32, was watching his adopted son, Isaac, on Aug. 13, 2005, when a 911 call was placed from his residence. Police said Dykstra said that the boy was having a seizure and having difficulty breathing. The infant died the next day of what was diagnosed as massive brain swelling, severe bleeding inside the skull and retinal hemorrhaging, police said.

Dykstra was not charged until August 2008 following an investigation by Iowa City Police and the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison on the second-degree murder charge, a Class B felony.