Affidavit: Child who died found floating in bathtub - News - Salina Journal
The father of a 10-month-old who died in May told officers that when he left to get a diaper for his son, the baby was sitting up in the bathtub and the water had just started to run, according to an affidavit written by Salina police stating probable cause for the arrest of Michael R. Hatfield.
According to the affidavit, responding officers smelled burnt marijuana in the house, in the 900 block of North Ninth Street, after the unresponsive child was found floating in the water. They determined by draining and refilling the tub that it would have taken about 40 minutes for it to get as full as it had been when baby Waylon was pulled from the water.
Saline County District Judge Patrick Thompson ordered release of a redacted version of the affidavit Tuesday at the request of the Salina Journal. The babys name was among the names redacted from the document before it was released.
Hatfield faces felony charges of murder, aggravated child endangerment, possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. He also has been charged with two misdemeanors possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Baby left in bathtub
The affidavit gave this account:
Police and paramedics responded at 3:23 p.m. May 22 after someone reported that a baby at the home wasnt breathing. They found a man performing CPR on a small child who was lying on a couch. The paramedics took over the life-saving attempt. The man, whose name was redacted, told an officer that Michael Hatfield had stopped in the living room to watch a game on television. At some point, Hatfield jumped up and yelled, Oh shit, my kid! before rushing to the bathroom and returning with the baby.
During a police interview, Hatfield said hed placed the baby in the empty tub and turned on a slight flow of water from a removable shower head to clean him up. Waylon was sitting up and holding the shower head when Hatfield left the bathroom, Hatfield said during the interview.
Hatfield told officers he went to another room to retrieve a diaper, and he started talking with someone about a game before another son came into the room and told him something was wrong with Waylon. Hatfield said the bathtub was more full than he thought it should have been when he pulled Waylon from the water.
Water left running
During a search of the house, police discovered the water was still running, and water was flowing out through an overflow drain in the tub. The water was 11 1/2 inches deep. Glass shower doors were open, and one was partially off its track. A glass bong, commonly used for smoking marijuana, was found in the bathroom.
Detectives drained the tub and attempted to refill it using about the same rate of water flow as they had observed. It took 40 minutes to fill the tub with nearly 6 inches of water.
In the bedroom, police located drug paraphernalia, a clear plastic container of suspected marijuana and a blue container of a white powdery substance that field tested positive for methamphetamine.
Adults smoking marijuana
On May 23, Hatfields son was interviewed by police. He said his father and two other adults had been in the bedroom for about 10 minutes smoking marijuana, and during that time he did not know where Waylon was. He said he had seen the baby in the living room earlier but did not know he had been placed in the bathtub.
He said when he went into the bathroom to urinate, he saw that a shower door was off its track. When he attempted to put it back in place, he noticed the bathtub was nearly full of water, and then he saw the baby floating with his head under water at the north end of the tub.
Reporter Erin Mathews can be reached at 822-1415 or by email at emathews@salina.com.
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