New jury trial date set in Springfield dead baby case

The Monday jury trial set in the cases against Springfield parents who prosecutors say is responsible for the death of their baby has been continued and a new date has been set.

The case against Brandon Beedy, 33, and Caitlyn Heinzen, 27, is now set for trial on Aug. 19, according to online court records. Clark County Judge Douglas Rastatter pushed the case into next month following a request by Heinzen’s attorney.

A motion filed by Heinzen’s defense attorney, Charles Ricketts, asked the court to continue the trial because he is still waiting for evidence.

“Defendant’s attorney has requested and is waiting for vital information from Kent E. Harshbarger MD, the forensic pathologist who did the postmortem examination of Camden Beedy. This information is vital with regard to defendant’s case.”

The motion also says Ricketts just completed a different trial that took most of his attention, and notes that defense attorney Griff Nowicki, who is Beedy’s lawyer, already is scheduled for a jury trial in a different court on July 8.

A bill of particulars filed in the cases by Clark County Assistant Prosecutor Aaron Heskett alleges the parents didn’t take care of the child’s well being before he died.

“Brandon Beedy and Caitlyn Heinzen did create a substantial risk to the health and safety of their 21-month-old child Camden Beedy by violating their duty of care, protection or support to him and that did cause his death,” the document says. “Specifically, defendants did leave their child unattended in a crib in their home at 1991 Kenton St. where they omitted to care for him for an unjustifiable extended period of time causing him to die from dehydration.”

Springfield police began their investigation on Jan 12 when they were called to a home on the 1900 block of Kenton Street at around 6 p.m. for a report a baby had died.

The person reporting the incident to police found the baby unresponsive in his crib, according to the report.

The baby is described in the police report as a 35-pound male with brown hair and blue eyes. The report is listed as a dead-on-arrival, unspecified death case.

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