A Snohomish man shook a toddler so hard that he caused fatal brain injuries, and evidence suggests he hurt the girl more than once before her May 21 collapse, prosecutors charged Friday.
Christian Blancarte, 23, now faces a second-degree murder charge in Snohomish County Superior Court.
Medical experts and detectives believe Blancarte is responsible for the death of Hailey Preslar, deputy prosecutor Mark Roe said in court papers.
The child was a month shy of her second birthday when she stopped breathing while in the man’s care.
Blancarte is the boyfriend of Hailey’s mother and was taking care of the child while she was at work, according to court papers.
Hailey “was in his care, and only in his care,” Roe wrote. “She was walking, talking and eating at noon. She was brain dead by 5 p.m.”
The girl was declared medically dead not long after she was taken to the hospital. She was not legally dead until after she was removed from life support May 24, according to court papers.
Blancarte has admitted shaking the girl, but maintained he did not hurt her. He’s offered differing explanations for how she may have been injured, including the suggestion that she may have been harmed in a traffic accident a few days earlier, according to court papers.
Investigation has failed to support Blancarte’s stories, Roe said. Detectives found no evidence, for example, that Hailey was injured in the traffic mishap, which the prosecutor described as a “minor rear ender” that occurred while the girl was strapped into her car seat.
Moreover, the prosecutor said, the injury that caused her death was so severe that experts believe the child would have been unable to walk or talk afterward.
Detectives have interviewed witnesses who said Hailey was walking and talking – including a final phone conversation with her mother – right up until she was left alone with Blancarte on the day of her collapse, Roe said.
After she was taken to the hospital, doctors found evidence of two injuries to the girl’s brain, one perhaps a week old.
“This places that first injury also during the time period that the defendant was baby-sitting (Hailey) alone, and further suggests a possible pattern of abuse by the defendant,” Roe said.
Blancarte has a robbery conviction in California and was wanted on a warrant there. Detectives are investigating information that a child was removed from his care in that state after abuse allegations surfaced, Roe said.
The defendant’s bail remains at $1 million.
Reporter Scott North: 425-339-3431 or north@heraldnet.com.
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