Evansville man pleads not guilty to murder of 1-year-old

CASPER — A 31-year-old Evansville man who fled the state in January 2023 after an investigation in which he abused and nearly killed a toddler stood in chains and prison clothes to appear in Natrona County District Court Thursday on four felony counts. criminal offense.

One of those charges, aggravated child abuse, involved a then-1-year-old boy in what the assistant district attorney said was “almost murder.”

Court records allege Scott John Erskine caused serious head trauma, among other injuries, to the toddler, who was found unconscious. The boy also suffered a broken tibia that was healing, according to court documents.

Erskine stood next to his lawyer, Kurt Infanger, before Judge Catherine Wilking and read the indictment on the stand in front of him as the judge laid out the charges against him, which include one count of aggravated child abuse, three counts of cruelty to children and two misdemeanors. charges of unlawful contact and child endangerment.

All charges relate to alleged activities by Erskine between January 1, 2019 and November 16, 2022, which involved three children: a boy born in 2021, a girl born in 2020 (both belonging to his ex-girlfriend) and a boy born in 2020. in 2013, the son of his brother’s girlfriend.

The arrest affidavit says Erskine first came to the attention of investigators on Oct. 22, 2022, when the father of Erskine’s girlfriend’s children showed Natrona County Sheriff’s Department investigators photos of alleged signs of abuse that showed bruises on the children’s faces and bodies.

‘Something’s wrong’

On November 16, 2022, Erskine called 911 and reported that “something was wrong with my child.”

When officers and Evansville police arrived, they found the 1-year-old boy unresponsive. The child had seizures.

The affidavit states that a doctor at Banner Wyoming Medical Center found bleeding from the gums, a bruise on the baby’s right ear, a bruise on the tip of his penis, extensive bruising on his right calf and lower leg, a bruise on his right cheek and extensive bruising on his buttocks. .

A CT scan showed “an acute right subdural hematoma involving the frontal lobe” or brain hemorrhage and possible “right retinal hemorrhage,” the affidavit states.

A skeletal examination revealed that the child had a fracture of the left tibia in a “state of healing.”

Court records show the child was sent to Children’s Hospital of Denver, and a doctor there described the retinal hemorrhage “as one of the worst cases he had ever seen.” The doctor said he was concerned about the child’s vision development.

The hospital’s child protection team concluded the baby “may have been abandoned, possibly shaken, or both,” according to the affidavit.

The doctor said the child’s head injuries were “injuries sustained as a result of abuse,” according to court records.

Investigators questioned Erskine and his girlfriend about how the child was injured. Both denied knowing how it happened.

Erskine said he was cooking dinner and discovered the then-1-year-old boy was pulling his 2-year-old sister’s hair. He led the girl into the living room. Erskine said he heard a noise and returned to the bedroom to find the boy “fidgeting.”

“I pick him up, take him to his mom and call the police. What else should I do? He allegedly told the officer this during an interview on November 17, 2022.

Mother says

Initially defending Erskine, the toddlers’ mother went to the Natrona County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 31, 2023, as the investigation continued, and told investigators that he had left the area on Jan. 9, 2023.

The girl told police she lied to investigators out of fear of Erskine and that he was responsible for the injuries. She claimed he controlled her finances, movements and nearly every aspect of her life and that Erskine would kill her if she told the truth, the affidavit said.

She said she saw Erskine grab her son by the ankles, hang him upside down and swing him upside down by his ankles. She believes this could have caused the child’s tibia fracture. She also described how Erskine kicked the two-year-old child to the floor and hit him with his shoe “hard enough to make him turn his head.”

The friend claimed Erskine had threatened to kill her and she had nowhere else to go.

On the evening of November 16, she said that she was playing in the children’s room with her son while Erskine was preparing dinner. She walked into the living room and kitchen, put her daughter’s plate down and heard her son crying. Erskine entered the room, she heard the crying stop, and then saw Erskine leave the room with the baby in his arms.

She described the boy as “stiff” and “lifeless”. She said Erskine then called 911 as she administered CPR until paramedics arrived.

The girl also told police that she had previously witnessed Erskine lift her daughter by the arm to shoulder height and throw her to the floor “on her butt.”

“Belts and cords”

A police interview with the son of Erskine’s brother’s girlfriend alleged that while he and his mother were living with Erskine and his brother in 2019 and 2020, both men hit him with “belts and cords.”

The child told police that at one point Erskine picked him up, pushed him against the wall and threw him “on my butt.”

The boy also told investigators as he was pinned against the wall that he was “having trouble breathing.”

In court Thursday, Erskine answered questions from Judge Wilking about how he admitted to the charges against him.

“Not guilty,” he said.

Infanger asked the judge to consider waiving his $50,000 cash bail or $30,000 surety bond.

Assistant District Attorney Brandon Rosti argued against it, pointing out that he had previously fled the state.

“The first victim was almost on the verge of being killed,” he said.

“I believe bail is appropriate and will continue with it,” Judge Wilking said.

Erskine was arrested on the charges on Aug. 30, according to jail records.

The charge of aggravated child abuse stemming from a head injury to a 1-year-old child carries a penalty of up to 25 years in prison. The three child abuse charges stem from alleged acts against a 1-year-old child, and the son of his brother’s girlfriend carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Erskine is also charged with unlawful contact stemming from an incident with his ex-girlfriend on Oct. 31, 2022. This charge carries a six-month prison sentence and a $750 fine.

The child endangerment charge stems from his alleged actions of grabbing his ex-girlfriend’s daughter and throwing her to the floor sometime in May. November 1 and 16, 2022. This could result in a one-year prison sentence and a $1,000 fine.

Erskine remains in the Natrona County Jail.

Dale Killingbeck can be contacted at [email protected].