Hearing for man charged with injuring infant child resumes Wednesday
[ By FRED GOUGH ]
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The preliminary hearing in a case involving an injured child got started last Tuesday, but because it started late in the day, the state didn’t get to finish presenting its case, so the hearing will resume Wednesday.
Alexis Silva was originally charged with reckless aggravated battery where he’s accused of injuring the 3 month old. But, the state added two alternate counts of abuse of a child. The theory for the first abuse count includes shaking of the child. The second includes cruel or inhuman corporal punishment. Assuming the case gets all the way to a jury trial, the jury would have to decide which one of the three charges he’s guilty of, or find him not guilty of anything.
Two doctors testified Tuesday about the child’s injuries. Dr. Travis Scott, a radiologist with Hutchinson Regional Medical Center, talked of what the x-rays showed, which included an injury to the left leg of the child. He says there was a chip fracture on a bone near the knee. He says this type of injury brought up a red flag for possible child abuse.
Dr. Kathryn Melhorn last week testified that she saw the leg injury, but also other injuries that included bruising on both cheeks, which she described as fingertip size. She says they were fading, indicating those injuries may have happened at an earlier time. She also discovered fractured ribs and even retinal hemorrhaging in one eye. This would indicate possible shaking of the child.
The crimes charged against Silva are alleged to have occurred sometime between August and October of last year.
Again, the hearing is scheduled to resume Wednesday with District Attorney Keith Schroeder expected to have one more witness.
Hutch man arrested for drugs and criminal trespass
[ By FRED GOUGH ]
A 27-year-old Hutchinson man well known to law enforcement reportedly caused problems at a local Dillon’s store leading to his arrest.
It happened on Sunday night at the Dillon’s on 725 E. 4th, when an employee advised Johnny Fenton III of criminal trespass and asked him to leave. But, he apparently still refused to leave and police were called.
He was arrested for criminal trespass, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia.
His bond set at $7,750.
He has previous convictions for theft, burglary, drugs and identity theft.
Second suspect in attempted robbery case enters ‘not guilty’ pleas
[ By FRED GOUGH ]
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — The woman with a 50-year-old Hutchinson man who attempted to steal a recruiter’s bag containing a government computer entered a “not guilty” plea this morning in District Court.
25-year-old Moriah Gandolph is alleged to have been the one who set the recruiter up, saying she wanted to join the military.
The case with her and Jose Vasquez goes back to Feb. 7, when a local recruiter apparently went into the McDonald’s at 4th & Walnut to meet a potential female recruit. Sgt. Stephen Casper says he waited at the restaurant for about 10-15 minutes and the female was a no show, so he sent a text to her and left. She sent a text back saying she had been in the restroom the whole time, so he came back and parked along Walnut just east of the restaurant. As he was exiting his vehicle, he placed the strap of the backpack containing an army computer over his left shoulder. It was then that a man and woman approached him, later identified as Vasquez and Gandolph. Vasquez is accused of demanding the bag. Casper then kneed Vasquez in the upper thigh where he then fell to the ground. He then left the area and made a police report.
Gandolph will now have a pretrial hearing in front of Judge Tim Chambers.
Hutch man arraigned in assault case
[ By FRED GOUGH ]
A 33-year-old Hutchinson man who was bound over for trial on a number of felonies entered “not guilty” pleas while being arraigned on Tuesday.
Raymon Hunter is charged with violation of a protection order, battery and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon—in this case, a knife—and criminal threat.
Hunter is alleged to have come to a Hutchinson home and pulled a knife and threatened a man with it. The victim then allegedly grabbed a shovel and attempted to strike Hunter, but missed and ended up striking his girlfriend’s SUV. There is some question as to whether the knife was actually open when Hunter walked toward Smith, but according to the victim, he felt threatened during the altercation.
Hunter has a new case pending where he’s charged with criminal possession of stolen property.
Judge Trish Rose will now set a pretrial hearing in the matter.