Junkie dad on trial for killing "friend's" 2-month-old son; dad's own son also had signs of brain injury, anal trauma (Fort Carson, Colorado)

Notice that this isn't some random "man." This junkie (addicted to heroin) was "caretaking" for his own infant son as well as the 2-month-old infant son of "a friend."

Dad GEORGE PETERS is on trial for killing the friend's baby. But his own son had similar brain injuries in addition to "anal trauma." Which sounds to me like this f***er was sexually abusing his own infant son, in addition to "bouncing" these babies hard enough to damage their brains.

http://www.gazette.com/articles/heroin-125919-deliberating-reeling.html

Jury deliberating fate of man accused of killing infant
September 29, 2011 7:14 PM
LANCE BENZEL
THE GAZETTE


A former Fort Carson soldier was craving heroin and reeling from a sleepless night when he lashed out against a friend’s 2-month-old son, inflicting injuries that would ultimately kill him, prosecutors said Thursday.

But according to George Peters’ defense attorneys, the child wasn’t the victim of homicide, as prosecutors allege.

They contend that Nicholas Johnson died from an undiagnosed brain injury as Peters bounced the child in an effort to calm his crying.

Those conflicting portraits of the boy’s Feb. 11 death were highlighted as attorneys sparred over evidence on the final day of Peters’ nearly two-week murder trial before 4th Judicial District Judge Thomas L. Kennedy.

The jury was sent home at 5 p.m. and will resume deliberations Friday.

Peters, 24, will spend the rest of his life in prison if convicted of first-degree murder in the boy’s death. He also faces multiple counts of child abuse against both Nicholas and Peters’ infant son Gabriel.

During closing arguments, prosecutors cited testimony by medical experts who tied Nicholas’ death to trauma similar to shaken-baby syndrome.

They also focused on Peters’ heroin use, saying that several days without the drug helped drive him to the breaking point while caring for two fussy baby boys. Peters was caring for his son and babysitting for another Fort Carson soldier in his apartment in the 3900 block of Patrick Drive.

The boy’s mother tipped her head and wept as prosecutor Gail Warkentin held up the pajamas Nicholas wore that day.

Public defender Todd Johnson countered that while Peters might be an “ill-equipped” parent, he couldn’t have known that bouncing the child would lead to his death. Seizing on disputed testimony by the coroner who conducted the boy’s autopsy, Johnson said an earlier brain injury could have been exacerbated by the bouncing.

Johnson said the lack of visible injuries on the boy supported the theory.

Prosecutors dismissed the argument as “fantasy,” saying that doctors found similar brain injuries in Peters’ son, who also suffered anal trauma.

Peters was administratively discharged from the Army in January, apparently after failing a drug test, he told his father during a recorded phone call that prosecutors played in court on Thursday.

Police say he acknowledged that he had been using heroin once a week and smoking marijuana to help curb his heroin cravings.

The former soldier told his father he was “high the whole (expletive) time” he watched the children, according to the recording. In a police interview, however, he denied being under the influence the day the child was injured.