JASPER SIMPSON - 22 months - Shelbyville IN

Man Charged with 3 Felonies in Toddler's Death
By Mike Corbin (mcorbin@wibc.com)
8/24/2011

A Shelby County man is charged with three felonies in the death of his girlfriend's toddler.

Authorities say 30-year-old Nathan Barker is being held on $250,000 bond in the Shelby County Jail.

They say Barker's actions on August 1st contributed to the death of 22-month-old Jasper Simpson.

Barker was babysitting the child while his girlfriend Amanda Simpson was away at work.

The probable cause affadavit says Barker initially told Simpson that Jasper had fallen from the couch and hit his head. He reportedly told her that he called medics who checked the toddler out and said Jasper would be fine.

Late that night after Simpson had returned home, she noticed the child wasn't breathing and called 911. Jasper later died at Riley Hospital in Indianapolis.

Authorities reported seeing injuries on Jasper's body that included cuts on his right cheek, neck and shoulder. The child also reportedly had marks on his magic stick in addition to a lacerated spleen and a rectal injury.

Barker told Shelbyville Police that the child had been jumping on the couch, but doctors at Riley say the child's injuries don't support Barker's claim.

The Marion County Coroner ruled Jasper's cause of death as blunt force trauma by homicide.

Authorities say they got reports from neighbors of the couple who at one time lived at 2404 Sgt. Wright Court (Apt J) in Shelbyville. One neighbor reported seeing Barker lift the boy five feet in the air and drop him; another reported hearing a swatting sound and seeing Jasper fall backwards against a patio door.

Barker is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, battery resulting in death and neglect of a dependent. All are felonies.

http://www.wibc.com/news/story.aspx?ID=1527845

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