WESTGATE, Iowa (AP) - A northeastern Iowa man is scheduled to be sentenced in April for the death of the 4-month-old nephew of his ex-girlfriend.
Dean Alan Hettinger, 24, of Westgate, was convicted last week of first-degree murder and child endangerment. He faces life in prison, the Des Moines Register reports.
The baby, Holten Smith, was being cared for by his aunt and Hettinger in April 2018 when he was abused. A search warrant said the couple took the infant to a hospital after he was found twitching, stopped crying and was unresponsive. He died about a month later.
The search warrant said that doctors determined that the baby had bleeding in his brain after sustaining “non-accidental head trauma.” The complaint said the baby also had 36 rib fractures.
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