Las Vegas — The 3-month-old baby abused by Nellis airman Andrew Leach died Monday.
Leach, 31, brought his infant son Aiden to O’Callaghan Hospital on Feb 1. He said that he was preparing his son for a bath and accidentally dropped him.
Las Vegas News at Las Vegas World News
Due to the nature of Aiden’s injuries, which included swelling of the brain, staff at the military hospital initiated a transfer to Sunrise Hospital.
Doctors at the hospital determined that the injuries suffered likely resulted from the baby being shaken, and that he also suffered from other injuries that appeared to have been at least a month old.
Leach contended that he shook the baby in an attempt to revive him after his son went limp after he dropped him. He claimed to suffer from PTSD and had undergone recent treatment for mental health issues. He also reportedly battles drug and alcohol dependency.
It is unknown if Leach’s wife Kelly Leach was involved in abusing their son or knew about the abuse that her child suffered, allegedly at the hands of her husband.
Initially she told police that she never saw her husband act abusively towards their son, but admitted that he was rough with the baby. She then admitted there had been a number of domestic violence incidents and that CPS had been called by the staff at one of the hospitals he had been treated at because he had told them he wanted to hurt his baby.
Knowing that her husband suffered from severe mental issues, it is unclear why she left their infant son alone with Leach while she “went shopping”.
Leach had initially been charged with child abuse with substantial bodily harm and is currently in custody at Clark County Detention Center. His bail is set at $20,000.
Due to the death of his son the charges against him may be upgraded to include murder.
Andrew Leach is scheduled for preliminary hearing on Feb. 20.