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GH man charged with murdering baby

VW independent/submitted information

GROVER HILL — A Grover Hill man has been charged with murder in the beating death of a baby in that village.

Tristen A. Blair, 19, will be arraigned in Paulding County Court this coming Monday, October 30, in the death of 3-month-old Zyathen Blair.

Tristen Blair

The Grover Hill EMS and Police Department responded at 11:57 a.m. Friday, October 20, to a report of a 3-month-old child not breathing at 202 S Cleveland St. in Grover Hill. The child was transported by the emergency squad and eventually admitted in a Fort Wayne, Indiana, hospital.

On Saturday, October 21, medical staff at the Indiana hospital contacted the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office indicating possible child abuse and noting the infant was in critical condition and not expected to survive.  Deputies from the Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation at that point. On Wednesday October 25, Zyathen was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The next day, an autopsy was conducted on the baby, and  evidence of blunt force trauma was discovered during that examination. Interviews were conducted at the Sheriff’s Office and, as a result, Blair was arrested and charged preliminarily with one count of murder, an unclassified felony.

“This is an incredibly bad situation for the family of young Zyathen,” said Paulding County Sheriff Jason K. Landers. “He was a defenseless infant and there’s absolutely no excuse for this

“I give credit to my staff working this case, as well as the family that cooperated with the investigation,” the sheriff added. “I cannot begin to imagine their pain.”

POSTED: 10/27/17 at 8:08 am. FILED UNDER: News