EL DORADO, Kan. (KSNW) — A Butler County jury has convicted a man for killing his infant son, Malykai Braxtyn Hogan, two years ago.
The jury found Kaleb Hogan, 24, guilty of first-degree murder and child abuse in the death of the three-month-old baby.
Kaleb called 911 on the afternoon of March 23, 2021, to report Malykai was not breathing. Police and Butler County EMS responded and found the infant in respiratory distress. Paramedics rushed Malykai to Wesley Medical Center, where he died three days later.
Kaleb told officers he believed Malykai had vomited while sleeping on his back, and that caused the respiratory distress. Kaleb and Malykai were the only ones home at the time.
However, a doctor at Wesley told investigators she observed multiple healing rib fractures and new and old blood around Malykai’s brain. The doctor said the injuries suggested the baby had suffered trauma on more than one occasion.
Kaleb and the baby’s mother said they did not know how the injuries happened. But police say Kaleb later told them he remembered he had “shaken” Malykai six weeks earlier. He said the mother did not know about it. Police say Kaleb also admitted to shaking Malykai again during the respiratory distress.
The coroner who performed the autopsy found Malykai had numerous rib fractures in various stages of healing, bleeding around the brain, and hemorrhages along the left and right optic nerves.
Kaleb’s sentencing is set for March.
Maylkai would have been two years old on Dec. 17. His mother and grandparents were in court for the trial.
