FBI arrests suspect in toddler’s death

A man suspected of killing his 15-month-old son was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday afternoon at a Spokane hospital where he was being treated for severe frostbite.

Police had been searching for Barry L. McAdoo, 30, since he disappeared Jan. 14 after his girlfriend called 911 to report their son was injured. A hospital worker recognized McAdoo from media reports and turned him in to police Monday.

Kootenai County Sheriff Rocky Watson said he didn’t know how long McAdoo was in the hospital or details of his whereabouts since Jan. 14. Watson declined to name the hospital, and none of Spokane’s major hospitals claimed to have information regarding McAdoo.

Once McAdoo is released from the hospital, Watson said he will be extradited to Kootenai County, where he faces charges of first-degree murder for the death of Brandon McAdoo. Watson said he’s not sure when McAdoo will be released, but he said the suspect is not considered a flight risk because of his condition.

Angela Cowles originally told sheriff’s detectives her son was injured when she slipped and fell on the ice. She later changed her story and said Brandon may have been injured when McAdoo tried to remove a piece of plastic-coated paper from the child’s mouth.

Brandon died Jan. 16 at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane. An autopsy revealed he had suffered a “blunt trauma injury to his head.” He also had a fractured right forearm that was never treated. The break had healed on its own.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Dan Mattos said Cowles told him that Brandon suffered the injury to his arm about a month and a half before Christmas. She said the break occurred when Brandon was home with his father. Cowles told Mattos that McAdoo has said the boy fell off the bed and McAdoo had grabbed his arm to break his fall.

Health and Welfare investigated an anonymous complaint and visited the home Dec. 30, Mattos said. He said there was no evidence of the injury because Brandon’s arm had healed.

Mattos said he saw Brandon just two weeks after Health and Welfare’s visit as he was investigating the injuries that killed the baby, both before and after the child died. Without the results of the X-ray taken during the autopsy, Mattos said he never would have known the arm had been fractured.

He said he felt Health and Welfare did their job.

“If they were wrong, I would not defend them,” Mattos said. “But they’re not wrong. They did what they were supposed to do. Short of having a crystal ball, there’s nothing more they could have done in examination of that baby.”

Health and Welfare declined to release the child’s records or answer questions about the McAdoo case.

Spokesman Ross Mason said state law prohibits the agency from disclosing information on any cases – even if a child is deceased. He said they can’t even confirm an investigation took place.

“We investigate all complaints” that appear legitimate by examining the child involved, he said.

“It’s not unusual, however, that there may not be any apparent problem,” Mason said. “Sometimes those don’t always show up from the get-go.”