HANK ALLEN ARDEN CRATTY - 3 Months (2009) - Bismarck ND

A Bismarck man accused of shaking and striking the head of his
infant son has admitted to causing the boy's death.
Aarin Cratty, 20, pleaded guilty to Class AA felony murder on
Tuesday at the Burleigh County Courthouse.
Hank Allen Arden Cratty died on Oct. 10. He was the son of
Cratty and Lori Lyon, of Bismarck. According to his obituary, he
was born on June 21.
Burleigh County Assistant State's Attorney Lloyd Suhr said
police and Metro Ambulance were called to Cratty's home around 2
p.m. Oct. 6, 2009, for a report of an infant who was not breathing.
When they arrived, Hank was not breathing and was turning blue.
After rescue efforts, the baby began breathing and had a pulse. He
was taken to St. Alexius, where Dr. Robert Bathurst and Dr.
Patricio Fernandez treated him. Fernandez said Hank had injuries
consistent with head injuries caused by shaking or high velocity trauma.
The infant was considered brain dead and died after being taken off life support, Suhr said.
In interviews with police, Cratty said he picked his son up to
play with him when he began crying, Suhr said. He said as the
interview went on, Cratty said he played rougher than he should
have with the baby and shook him.
Cratty told officers the baby's head snapped back and hit
Cratty's knee, at which time Hank went limp and became unresponsive, Suhr said.
The state medical examiner performed an autopsy and ruled the
cause of death was blunt head injury, consistent with what Cratty told police, Suhr said.
Cratty's appointed defense attorney, public defender Travis
Finck, did not add anything to the factual basis for the plea but
said he and his client takes exception to the way Suhr
characterized some of the facts. He said he would prefer to address
the differences in perspective at sentencing rather than at Tuesday's hearing.
Finck said he plans to call several witnesses to testify at
sentencing and requested the hearing be set to last an hour, rather
than the half hour sentencing hearings usually last.
Cratty originally had been charged with child abuse and neglect
on Oct. 9. Prosecutors changed the charge to Class AA felony murder
on Oct. 15 after the baby died. According to a complaint, Cratty
was charged under the state's felony murder statute. Under the law,
a person can be charged with murder if someone dies during the
commission of a felony. Cratty is accused of causing Hank's death
while committing felony abuse or neglect of a child.
Cratty could be sentenced up to life in prison without parole
and will be required to register as an offender against children.
He is being held at the Burleigh County Detention Center in lieu of
a $100,000 cash bond. South Central District Judge David Reich
ordered a pre-sentence investigation be completed.