A week after arriving in Green River, Christopher Nielsen recalls feeling stressed about not having any job prospects and the possibility of being homeless. He had come to Green River from Utah to help look after his friends’ two children as they worked to establish themselves after moving to the city.
Dealing with a lack of sleep as well, Nielsen told Third Judicial District Court Judge Suzannah Robinson one of the children, 5-year-old Anthony James Radcliff, wasn’t listening to him as he tried to convince the child to eat his meal.
“I lost my temper and shook Anthony,” he said.
Nielsen changed his plea last Thursday to no contest to a charge of first degree murder.
He faces life in prison without parole and could have faced the death penalty, though Sweetwater County Attorney Daniel Erramouspe said he wouldn’t seek the death penalty. An argued sentencing will take place later. Nielsen’s plea was submitted without a plea agreement offered by the county attorney’s office.
The plea itself means Neilsen admits the information presented in the charging documents, but not guilt in the boy’s death.
Erramouspe said some of the injuries Anthony had were consistent with being shaken, with brain injuries being identified after Anthony’s death. However, other injuries consistent with physical abuse were also found. He said there were jurisdictional issues at play, because it was impossible to determine if those injuries occurred in Wyoming or Utah and who caused those injuries as prosecutors can’t determine if all the injuries were caused by Nielsen.
Erramouspe described the child as being small for his age and said his mother believed he had some undiagnosed developmental disabilities.
Nielsen said he realized something was wrong with, after shaking Anthony, the child went into a seizure. Panicking, Nielsen said he shook the boy a second time. The boy was transported to Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County and later taken to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. He died Nov. 28, 2019.
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