OSKALOOSA — A man has been charged with murder in Oskaloosa, accused of killing his girlfriend’s baby son.
Station WOI reports that 21-year-old Johnny Dale Jr. is being held on $1.25 million bail. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 28. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.
A criminal complaint says Dale was watching the 4-month-old boy when his girlfriend went to work on June 15. She told an investigator the boy had a bruise on his forehead and wouldn’t wake up when she got home.
Doctors later told investigators the boy had suffered brain and spinal cord injuries consistent with child abuse.
The complaint also says Dale said he’d grown frustrated with the baby and said he bounced him on an air mattress in an attempt to get him to sleep. Dale acknowledged that his actions likely injured the boy.
The complaint says the boy died Friday morning.