Hutcheson
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WILKES-BARRE — A guilty plea hearing for Jeffrey Blake Hutcheson, accused of causing injuries that resulted in the death of his 11-week old son in 2019, was continued Tuesday.
Hutcheson, 24, appeared at the hearing via video from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility as his attorney, Demetrius Fannick, announced that a negotiated plea deal with prosecutors had been worked out.
Judge Joseph F. Sklarosky postponed the hearing for a week to allow Fannick to meet Hutcheson in-person to review the guilty plea agreement and the plea colloquy, a series of questions Hutcheson is required to answer to ensure that he is making the plea knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily.
Fannick noted Hutcheson will plead guilty to aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of children.
Hutcheson was charged by state police at Hazleton after his son, Terran Jayce Hutcheson, died at Berwick Hospital on Sept. 28, 2019.
According to court records, Hutcheson and his girlfriend drove the baby to the hospital after finding the infant unresponsive.
When troopers interviewed Hutcheson, he claimed he put the baby to sleep on a couch and went upstairs to sleep. He was awakened in the middle of the night when the baby began crying, and he went downstairs and laid down beside the baby.
Hutcheson claimed the baby fell back to sleep and when he awoke, he noticed the baby was not breathing.
A physician at Berwick Hospital found the baby’s ribs were broken, consisting of old and new fractures and a bruise on the infant’s head, according to court records.
During a second interview with troopers, court records say, Hutcheson admitted to squeezing the baby to the point of fracturing the infant’s ribs.
District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce could not be reached for comment Tuesday to determine why criminal homicide charges were not filed in the case.