A 21-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the beating death of his 2-year-old stepson in Clifton, outside Grand Junction.
Brandon Scott Moore was arrested late Wednesday by the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office.
Moore was charged with first- degree murder and child abuse resulting in death, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Logan C. Acord, whose 2nd birthday would have been Thursday, was taken to St. Mary’s Hospital on Tuesday in critical condition. Medical personnel notified the Sheriff’s Office that the child’s injuries might have been caused by abuse.
The child died six hours later.
The Mesa County coroner’s office has ruled that the cause of Logan’s death was multiple blunt-force injuries and the manner of death was homicide.
A doctor quoted in the search warrant, obtained by The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction, said Logan had such severe retinal hemorrhaging that bleeding could be seen without special medical equipment.
Moore said the boy was hurt when he fell in the bathtub. The doctor quoted in the affidavit said the injuries were not consistent with such a fall.
Moore told authorities that after Logan fell and became unconscious, he bit the boy and slapped him to try to revive him, the affidavit said.
A second child living with Moore and his wife, Stacey, has been put in the care of social services.
