A Greeley man was found guilty of murder Tuesday evening in a fatal child abuse case.
John Melvin White was convicted by a Weld County jury of first-degree murder and of child abuse resulting in death, according to the Weld County district attorney’s office.
The jury returned the guilty verdict, on both counts, at about 7:45 p.m.
after Greeley police, on May 11, 2015, found a 2-year-old boy unconscious and critically injured. The toddler, Michael “Mikey” Lara, the son of White’s girlfriend at the time, was under his care.
Michael was taken to Children’s Hospital in Aurora, where he died several days later.
White told police the boy suffered injuries being knocked down steps by the family’s dog.
Medical experts at the trail, which started Nov. 3, testified, however, that the boy’s injuries, which included bruises to both sides of his head and back, and burns to his lips and neck caused by a hairdryer, were signs of further abuse, the DA’s office said.
Sentencing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 16.
White faces an automatic life sentence, without the possibility of parole for the murder conviction and up to 48 years for the abuse conviction.
