An Idaho man was sentenced in a brutal murder case of his 2-month-old daughter, whom he bit and shook to death.
On Saturday, September 18, 2021, Towles called 911, claiming his 2-month-old child was not breathing.
When officers arrived on the scene, they found the child lying face up and unresponsive on the floor. While attempting life-saving measures, officers observed several injuries on the child, including a large circular bruise on her cheek, a bruise on her right leg, and bite marks on her left forearm, left ankle, and below her knee.
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Despite being rushed to the hospital and the heroic attempts of officers, doctors, surgeons, and other medical professionals, the child died as a result of a head injury.
When asked about the events leading up to his 911 call, Towles claimed: Thursday the child appeared normal with no marks on her body; Friday, the child began to sleep excessively; Saturday morning, the child appeared fine but a little fussy; later on Saturday, the child would look off to the side and not respond when he (Towles) snapped his fingers.
When asked about the injuries, Towles claimed that he bit the child, “shook” her “pretty violently” approximately 20 times, and “played with her legs” in an attempt to gain a response from the child after she suddenly became unresponsive.
An autopsy of the child was conducted by the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office where blunt force injuries were found on the child’s head, neck, torso, and extremities.
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Specifically, fractures were found on the child’s rib, radius (arm), coracoid process (shoulder), and femurs (both legs).
Of the fractures, some were determined to be acute-appearing (new injuries), and others were determined to be subacute-appearing (old injuries – already healed and/or healing).
A spinal cord injury was also found on the child as well as an intracranial hemorrhage (brain bleeding) with subsequent cerebral edema (brain swelling).
However, it was noted that the child had tested positive for COVID-19, which “ultimately confound[ed] the ability [of the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office] to determine the exact etiology (cause) of the hemorrhage.”
After receiving the autopsy report from the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office in December 2022, the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office consulted with a doctor/professor of pediatrics from the University of Utah School of Medicine and a doctor/forensic pathologist from the Washington State University School of Medicine in an effort to get a second opinion as to the cause of child’s intracranial hemorrhage and death.
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After a review of the case, these experts concluded that the child’s cause of death was unrelated to COVID-19 and definitely due to abusive head trauma inflicted on the child.
On July 6, 2023, the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office obtained a Grand Jury indictment and arrest warrant charging Towles with First Degree Murder. Later that evening, officers from the Post Falls Police Department located Towles and arrested him on the warrant.
Following the arrest, Detective Neil Uhrig (formerly of the Post Falls Police Department) interviewed Towles. At first, Towles repeated his original story to Detective Uhrig. However, Towles eventually broke down and admitted to shaking his infant child out of frustration because she would not eat and would not stop crying.
Towles was previously convicted of felony Injury to Child in 2019 when, at the age of 19, he was found to be in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl. Towles was still on probation for this charge at the time of the murder.
Second Degree Murder is punishable by up to life in prison, and Towels was sentenced on January 23, 2024.
At sentencing, Criminal Chief Deputy Prosecutor Laura McClinton recommended life in prison with parole eligibility after 30 years.
District Judge Barbara Duggan sentenced Towles to a 50-year prison sentence with parole eligibility after 25 years.
Judge Duggan noted that there is no victim more helpless or innocent than the child in this case.
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