Suspect Admits Beating Girlfriend’s Infant 20-Month-Old Boy’s List Of Injuries Indicates Violent Attack

A Spirit Lake man with a history of violence has admitted brutally beating his girlfriend’s 20-month-old son, a Kootenai County prosecutor said Wednesday.

Anthony Mitchell of Spirit Lake died Tuesday from internal bleeding, according to autopsy results.

The list of the toddler’s injuries indicate a violent attack: Head injuries, fractured ribs, a torn liver, bruises to his pancreas, bowel, heart and lungs.

Ralph James Reyes, 21, is charged with felony injury to a child. He is being held at the Kootenai County Jail.

Authorities say Reyes was home alone with the boy Tuesday morning when he attacked Anthony.

“The defendant initially admitted he had poked the child … shaken the child and slapped the child in the face,” said Deputy Prosecutor Erika Ellingsen.

But after he was confronted with medical records, “he admitted he punched the child numerous times with a closed fist in the abdomen and kidney areas,” Ellingsen said.

After finding a bowel movement in the child’s pants, Reyes told authorities he washed the boy and abused him some more.

“After that he went for help, but it was too late,” Ellingsen said.

The boy’s aunt, who lived in the same apartment complex, tried unsuccessfully to revive Anthony. The child was rushed by ambulance to Kootenai Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Ellingsen detailed the toddler’s injuries and Reyes’ admissions during the defendant’s first court appearance Wednesday. She asked 1st District Magistrate Eugene Marano to set bail at $250,000.

“Since I’m unemployed, how am I supposed to raise that much money?” Reyes asked the judge, adding, “I am sorry.”

His relatives, some sobbing, watched the hearing through a closed-circuit television monitor at the jail. Afterward, they refused to comment.

Although a public defender appointed to Reyes called his admissions “tainted confessions” and “speculative hearsay,” Marano set bail at $250,000.

Court records show Reyes has a history of violence. He has twice before faced battery charges - once for attacking his father and once for fighting with a girlfriend.

Court records also show the former North Idaho College student and Silverwood Theme Park employee received anger-management counseling.

But Reyes’ former girlfriend couldn’t believe he could cause the boy’s death.

“I do not think he’s capable of intentionally hurting a child,” said the woman, who asked not to be identified. She described him as “really caring” and said the violence between them was mutual.

Reyes had been living with the boy’s mom, Anna Mitchell, for four months, Ellingsen said.

Neighbors said they often heard him yelling at Anthony, and a Spirit Lake waitress said she had to ask Reyes to stop assaulting the boy in her restaurant.

Randy Geib, chief of social work for the state Health and Welfare Department in Kootenai County, said it appears that more infants in recent years are dying at the hands of parents or guardians.

This year, two Kootenai County men in separate cases were convicted of causing injuries that lead to the deaths of their girlfriend’s children. Since 1995, at least three Spokane boyfriends have been charged or convicted of the same crime.

But, he said, it’s also more likely that authorities are better trained to spot potential abuse. “In the past, these cases may have gone uninvestigated,” he said. “People may have been more willing to assume the deaths were accidental.”

Statewide, Idaho averages 10 child-abuse deaths a year, most involving children under 5.

Geib’s office receives 30 to 40 complaints a month about possible child abuse or neglect. In the past three months, 11 of those have been “red-button, priority-one” cases - where the child may be in life-threatening danger.

Although there are factors that increase the risk of child abuse, case workers say they can’t necessarily predict abuse.

Children are in more danger if they are 5 or younger and have any type of disability. These children are more vulnerable because they don’t communicate well and may not have regular contact with adults outside the home.

Risk also is higher if the parents have financial troubles, or a history of domestic violence or substance abuse.

Kootenai County sheriff’s detective Kent Johnston adds boyfriends to the danger list.

“They don’t have the actual tie to the child,” he said. “The emotional bond isn’t necessarily there.”

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