Jerome man pleads not guilty to murder of girlfriend's baby
BY GRETEL KAUFFMAN
Twin Falls Times-News
TWIN FALLS — A Jerome man accused of abusing and killing his girlfriend’s infant daughter has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Joshua Molina, 33, was indicted by a grand jury in May on one count of first degree murder and four counts of injury to a child. He entered a plea of not guilty Monday.
Molina was arrested in March, five months after 20-month-old Lyryk Altom died. The baby was taken to St. Luke’s Magic Valley with bleeding in her brain on Oct. 8 and flown to Boise, where she died six days later. A doctor at St. Luke’s told police he believed her head injuries were caused by non-accidental blunt force trauma.
Lyryk’s mother, Amanda Dunlap, was charged shortly after her daughter’s death with one count of first-degree murder, eight felony counts of injury to a child and one misdemeanor count of injury to a child. She was arraigned in district court in July and will appear at a status conference on Sept. 17.
At the time of Lyryk’s death, Molina told police he was not really involved in the baby’s medical care, a claim that Dunlap initially agreed with. But in later interviews, she said she had lied about Molina’s level of involvement.
Photos and text messages reviewed by police suggest that Molina may have physically abused the infant over several months leading up to her death, according to court documents.
Dunlap told police that Molina wouldn’t let her take Lyryk to see a doctor after she had a seizure on Oct. 8 because he had been blowing marijuana in the baby’s face to alleviate her symptoms, according to a police affidavit. Dunlap said Molina was afraid that if Lyryk tested positive for marijuana, he would have his son taken away from him.
https://magicvalley.com/news/local/c...7b012f601.html
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