EVANSTON — The parents of an infant who died last October have been arrested and charged with manslaughter and child abuse.
Tevin Medina and Bailey Bettinson were taken into custody Tuesday, March 26, after Uinta County Attorney Loretta Howieson Kallas filed charges one day prior. If convicted, they face up to 20 years for manslaughter and up to another 10 for child abuse.
Nine-month-old Renezmae Medina was found dead at her home, located at 215 Feather Way (Rocky Point Apartments), around 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2023. Born on Jan. 16, 2023, the infant was celebrated as the first baby born in Uinta County last year.
Medical staff performing an abuse and neglect screening at Evanston Regional Hospital found “unexplained bruising in the ‘peri area,’” court documents state. The peri area includes tissue that makes up the bottom of the pelvic cavity.
Investigators also allegedly found large abrasions around the victim’s vaginal area, the right buttock and right leg. Medical staff told investigators the abrasions were from diaper rash so extensive that “the rash appeared to be entering into the flesh as well as the skin,” according to court documents.
An autopsy performed on Oct. 23, 2023, by state medical examiner Randall Frost could not determine a cause of death “but could not rule out an asphyxia death.”
Frost recommended further investigation.
According to an affidavit filed in support of arrest and signed by Evanston Police Det. Scott Faddis, investigators found the house to be covered in filth — pet urine and feces not only on the floors, but the walls, rotting food, a soiled diaper with exposed feces atop a pile of trash.
The state also alleges the children in the home at the time (the infant victim and Tevin Medina’s 3-year-old stepdaughter) were exposed to other dangers, such as a pointed steak knife on the children’s bedroom floor next to dried vomit, an unsheathed hunting knife exposed on top of a clothes dryer and Medina’s tattoo gun and needles within reach of the young children.
According to court documents, the stench of the apartment was so bad that detectives had to take breaks for fresh air while processing the scene, and a neighbor allegedly said she can smell the odors from outside the apartment.
The day Renezmae was found dead, Medina’s stepdaughter was taken into protective custody by the Wyoming Department of Family Services “because of the filthy unsafe living conditions of the defendant’s residence,” the affidavit states.
An Evanston officer responded to the apartment more than a month before Renezmae’s death.
According to court documents, EPD was dispatched to the residence to assist the apartment’s management with an inspection of the apartment. Management had complained of bad living conditions for the children, the affidavit states.
“The residence was littered with animal feces, rotten odors, mold, clothes and many other dirty items,” court documents state.
Management also provided EPD with photos, which were sent to DFS, along with the incident report.
According to the affidavit, DFS worked cases concerning the living conditions at the home a year earlier — on Sept. 6, 2022, and then on Sept. 21, 2022 — before Renezmae was born.
It wasn’t immediately clear when Bettinson and Tevin Medina will be in court but unless they waive it, they will each have a preliminary hearing in Uinta County Circuit Court, where Judge Michael L. Greer will determine whether there’s enough evidence to move the cases to Third District Court, where felonies are prosecuted.
Bettinson and Medina were in the Uinta County Detention Center at press time.
This story was published on April 3, 2024.
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