A Green River man faces a charge of first degree murder after a child’s death at Primary Children’s Hospital.
Christopher James Nielsen, 26, was initially arrested Nov. 14 and charged with aggravated child abuse, but those charges were amended last week following the child’s death at the hospital Thanksgiving Day. He was placed on a $1 million cash or surety bond and is in the Sweetwater County Detention Center. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Dec. 11.
According to court documents, the Green River Police Department was notified of a medical call involving a five-year-old boy suffering from a seizure. He was taken to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County where scans of his head and brain revealed the boy was suffering from a traumatic brain injury that could have been associated with abuse. The boy was taken to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City for further tests, which showed he had a traumatic brain injury, acute respiratory failure, a right holohemispheric subdural hematoma, and a midline shift of the brain due to the hematoma.
Officers at the scene spoke with the child’s mother, who said the boy did not have a history of seizures and didn’t think he ingested anything to cause one. She said Nielsen was babysitting the child and his two-year-old brother and that Nielsen took the younger child away from the scene and the chaos at the residence. Officers soon found Nielsen and the two-year-old and took an initial statement from Nielsen. He initially claimed he was babysitting when he heard the boy scream for his mother from the bedroom he was in. He claimed when he approached from the hallway, he saw the five-year-old with his legs locked and shaking. Nielsen said the child then passed out and fell backwards, hitting his head on the floor after he fell. Nielsen said the boy was acting normally throughout the morning and did not have any signs of prior conditions.
Officers were later contacted by staff at MHSC who reported the child had a brain bleed and the circumstances appeared suspicious. Nielsen was taken to the GRPD and interviewed with a detective. According to the affidavit, Nielsen claimed he was living rent free with the children’s mother and fiancée and was asked to baby sit for the couple as they had recently moved to Green River from Sandy, Utah and needed childcare for a few months as they settled into the community.
They had been in Green River a week prior to the incident.
He said while babysitting the kids Nov. 10, they were getting out of control and he was becoming frustrated. He told detectives he slapped the five-year-old on the back of the head. Nielsen said he realized he was losing his temper and stepped outside the apartment to calm down, leaving the two children unattended. When he returned, he said the five-year-old appeared fine and he made the kids a snack and took them to the bike park for a walk. During the walk, Nielsen claimed the boy walked into a pole that caused a bruise on his forehead.
On the morning of Nov. 11, they spent the morning watching a movie and eating ham sandwiches. Neilsen claimed the five-year-old kept glancing at the television while they ate, so he put the boy in a corner until he finished his food. Afterward, he tried to get the boy to use the bathroom, but he would not. Nielsen said he sent the child to take a nap while he fixed the two-year-old boy’s broken yo-yo. At about 11 a.m., he heard the boy crying for his mother. He claimed as the boy continued crying, Nielsen walked to the doorway of the bedroom and saw his knees buckled at an odd angle. The boy then fell backward and hit his head on the carpet. After seeking help from other people at the apartment complex, he was able to call the mother’s fiancée.
He said the boy didn’t have any health problems and didn’t recall anything traumatic happening to him, saying the only incident he could remember was wrestling with the kids and the five-year-old hitting his head on soft portion of the couch. When asked how he dealt with his anger, Nielsen said he sometimes balls his fist up hits himself in the side of the head until he calms down. He also said he takes walks to calm himself. He told investigators he had anger issues in the past and has attended 10 anger management courses. He also admitted that he does get frustrated being stuck in the apartment with the boys all day, without much time to himself. He also said there was a lot of tension in the apartment due to the family not having much money after moving to Green River.
On Nov. 13, a detective traveled to Salt Lake City to meet with doctors at Children’s Primary Hospital. They said the child appeared to have been shaken violently and provided the detective with information ruling out the idea of a blunt object striking the child. The doctors also said it would have taken a strong person to have cause the type of trauma they seen in the boy’s scans. They said because the boy’s brain shifted inside his skull, he would have fallen unconscious and lost the ability to talk or stand on his own. They believe the seizure would have happened within 30 minutes of being shaken, possibly sooner. They also concluded the injury took place while Nielsen was caring for the boy.
Other injuries associated with child abuse were recorded, including bruising on the intestines, which doctors said rarely is caused by accidents. Officers went to the apartment and conducted a search warrant on the resident to find signs of child abuse. Nielsen was taken to the GRPD for further questioning as well. Detectives questioned him about the results of medical examinations conducted on the boy. Nielsen said when the boy was not eating his food fast enough; he hit the boy in the back of the head. When asked to demonstrate how hard he hit the child, detectives noted he hit himself in the back of the head between light and medium strength.
While speaking with detectives, Nielsen said he was very frustrated and angry with the boy because he wouldn’t listen and go to bed as he was being asked. Nielsen then allegedly told detectives he grabbed the boy by the shoulders and shook him back and forth. He said he could not remember how long he shook the child, but allegedly told detectives it was enough to hurt the child badly. Nielsen said he let go of the child and he wobbled to his room where he started crying and called out for his mom. Nielsen said he realized the child was hurt badly and saw his legs about to buckle beneath him. Nielsen attempted to catch the boy, but he slipped out of his hands and fell to the carpet. Once he fell, Nielsen allegedly shook the child again for 2-3 minutes, remembering he woke a woman from unconsciousness by shaking her. Nielsen also allegedly told detectives he was aware he was the cause of the boy’s injuries since the first interview, but couldn’t bring himself to admit it.
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