A Springfield man on trial for the beating death of a toddler was found guilty of murder Friday evening.
Brett Meddock, 21, of 530 E. Cassily St., faced multiple charges in the case including murder and involuntary manslaughter. He was found guilty on all charges stemming from the January 2015 death of 16-month-old Kaden Payne.
Meddock faces life in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 14.
Witness testimony in the trial concluded Friday. Prosecutors and Meddock’s defense presented closing arguments before the case was turned over to the jury Friday afternoon.
Clark County Assistant Prosecutor Amy Smith painted a picture of the injuries an autopsy of Kaden’s body revealed.
The official cause of death was multiple blunt force trauma to the head, neck and torso, according to court records.
Meddock was arrested in June 2015 after a months-long investigation into the death of the toddler, Springfield Police Division Detective Trent King said at the time of Meddock’s arrest.
Smith argued witnesses in the four-day long trial pointed to the fact that Meddock was the only person who was alone with the boy to cause the injuries.
“Brett Meddock’s temper exploded — his anger erupts and he lashes out at Kaden,” Smith told the jury.
Kaden died at Springfield Regional Medical Center on Jan. 20, 2015.
An autopsy of the child showed new and old injuries, according to court records. Visible bruises on the toddler’s forehead, face and stomach were visible, Smith said.
But internal bruising on the boy’s skull showed possible evidence of previous injuries, prosecutors said.
Meddock, the then-boyfriend of Kaden’s mother, was alone with the toddler just before he went into medical distress, according to witnesses in the trial.
Kaden’s mother, Sierra Coy, told the jury she left Meddock alone with the child for a short period of time the day he died, according to court records.
Kaden died the same day he turned 16 months old.
Meddock’s lawyer, Griff Nowicki, told the jury that there was no evidence to prove without a doubt that Meddock inflicted the injuries.
“They cannot say who did it, they cannot say when it happened,” Nowicki said.
Lawyers also painted a picture of Meddock as a caregiver of the boy.
“He knew how to take care of Kaden, he knew how to calm Kaden down,” Nowicki said to the jury.
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