Wyoming Lawyers Seek More Time in Child Murder Case
Attorneys representing accused child killer John Barrett as well as prosecutors with the Laramie County District Attorney's Office are asking for more time to prepare for trial.
The state is considering the death penalty in the case, and was told on Oct. 12 that they had until the end of the month to make a decision, but Deputy District Attorney Ed Buchanan says a "joint stipulation" filed Friday extends the state's deadline until Feb. 1, 2018.
Buchanan says the agreement also extends the defense's deadline to challenge Count II, which alleges Barrett did, in the perpetration of sexual abuse, kill his girlfriend's 2-year-old son.
Barrett's attorneys have repeatedly asked the court to dismiss the charge, arguing there's "no evidence that sexual assault caused the boy's death" and that the child "can only die one time."
Cheyenne police were notified of the case on May 22 after the boy's mother, Cynthia Clark, brought him to Cheyenne Regional Medical Center with extensive bruising on his body, injuries to his rectum and anus and two black eyes. He was transferred to Children's Hospital Colorado where he died the next day.
Detective James Peterson says the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy noted the boy "had suffered an inter-abdominal blunt force trauma due to an assault" and that "the matter of death was homicide."