AURORA, Colo. — A father is charged with first-degree murder after his son, who was severely abused in 2017, died last December, according to a grand jury indictment.
Eddie Meyers and Taja Shannon, the boy's mother, were both indicted in May. Meyers is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death. Shannon is charged with child abuse resulting in death and accessory to a crime.
According to the indictment, Meyers brought the couple's 29-day-old son to main the entrance of Children's Hospital in Aurora on Sept. 20, 2017. When they arrived, according to the court documents, Meyers stood for several minutes in the vestibule outside the lobby holding the child, who was wrapped in a blanket. He was approached by an officer who asked what he was waiting for and Meyers responded that he was waiting for his girlfriend to park and come inside.
That officer said Meyers told him the child had stopped breathing and had been resuscitated, but Meyers showed no signs of "distress, panic, excitement or urgency," the court documents say. The officer saw the child's face appeared "greyish-bluish" and told Meyers he needed to head to the ER immediately, which they did.
Hospital staff examined the child and determined he had multiple injuries that were "non-accidental," the indictment says. They included:
- Three broken ribs
- Right humerus fractured in two places
- Left fractured femur
- "Buckle" fractures of the right and left tibia (bone bends but are not fully broken)
- Black eye
- Bruises to chin, cheek, elbow and inside of mouth
- Significant traumatic brain injury
Hospital staff informed Meyers and Shannon that their child's survival was "highly unlikely" and later told police their reaction was "very unusual and inappropriate" as if they did not understand the seriousness of the situation, the court documents say. It was noted that both "appeared to be more concerned about themselves."
When asked about the injuries, the parents suggested the infant's ribs were broken when their cat walked across his chest and said they were "certain" his black eye was self-inflicted by the child "scratching his own eye," court documents say. They insinuated that other injuries might have been caused by their roommate whom they had occasionally left alone with the infant.
A hospital staff member later reported that she observed a "quiet" conversation between the parents and said she overheard some things that made her believe they were trying to get their stories straight about what happened.
After bringing the child to the hospital, staff said both parents left to "get rest and some food" and did not provide any contact information.
In mid-October 2017, the infant improved enough to be discharged into the care of a "medical foster home." It was noted in the indictment, the child never learned to crawl or talk and was fed through a feeding tube. He was also blind as a result of the injuries and had been "in and out" of hospice care since 2018.
In June of that year, a detective consulted with the District Attorney's office and they determined at that time, the case "lacked sufficient evidence" to support charging Shannon or Meyers. The case was closed.
The child was again admitted to hospice care in late 2022 and succumbed to his injuries in December. The Arapahoe County Coroner determined his manner of death was homicide and detectives reopened the case. They tracked Shannon and Meyers to an apartment in Englewood.
2023 interview with Shannon
Detectives interviewed Shannon on Jan. 19. She told investigators that she saw medical records that showed their son had sustained injuries as early as four days old, the indictment says. She said she came to the conclusion that Meyers had to have been responsible because at the time, they were staying at a hotel, and it was only the two of them around the baby. She said she was recovering from a C-section and Meyers was primarily caring for the child.
She also told police that Meyers would take the baby into the bathroom and then the baby would start screaming and crying. According to the indictment, she didn't know what happened in the bathroom. She said she didn't confront Meyers because she was "scared" he would do something to her.
Shannon went on to say that part of her "didn't want to believe it" and stated she had "very poor judgement back then." She reported, according to the indictment, that she wanted to take the baby to his one-month checkup but Meyers told her "no" and she never made the appointment.
When asked why she never told police these details years ago, she told police that Meyers told her not to and told her what to say and to "stick to it," the indictment says. She went on to say that based on his tone of voice there would be "issues" if she didn't do what he said.
She said she and Meyers were no longer a couple but were still living together. Shannon told detectives she planned on "getting out of living with him" and at that time she planned to contact to detectives about what happened, the indictment says.
Shannon also told police she did not believe their roommate was responsible for their son's injuries and said that roommate had PTSD related to military service. When Meyers found out, Shannon said he thought the roommate would be "easy to blame" because he was "unstable."
According to the indictment, Shannon also told the detective Meyers "messes with their cats" and insinuated that he might have injured one of them so badly it had to be euthanized. She reported that in 2019 she came home to find a cat bleeding from the mouth and when she took it to the vet was told the animal had a brain injury and was told it could have been caused by someone hitting the cat in the head "really hard."
Detectives also located a 2020 police report from Englewood Police, which indicated that Shannon claimed Meyers said he would kill her. When asked about it, she told the detective she was "scared" because as Meyers left he commented that "his friends said he should kill her," the indictment says. She also stated that Meyers said he would kill her and her cat and leave them for the apartment manager to find, according to the document.
At the conclusion of her interview with police, a detective suggested she stay somewhere else and avoid contact with Meyers because he feared he might retaliate against her for talking with them.
2023 interview with Meyers
On the same day, police also interviewed Meyers, and during that interview he continued to blame their roommate for the baby's injuries. He stated that they had left their son alone with the roommate and when they returned the baby "was kind of not acting right." He went on to say he "trusted people he shouldn't have."
He said he couldn't recall taking the baby into the bathroom but also said multiple times that his memory "wasn't reliable" and that he would trust Shannon's memory of events over his own.
During the interview, the detective noticed two "tear drop" tattoos under his eye, which the detective noted could signify many things, to include "potentially killing someone," the indictment says. When asked about them, Meyers responded "it's nothing good," but did not elaborate.
When asked directly whether he had ever hurt his son, the indictment says that Meyers paused to laugh and then while smiling, replied, "no, brother I didn't."
The detective later asked if he ever dropped his son, and he replied, "no, silly. I would have remembered that."
Meyers said he could never see Shannon hurting their son, "knowing the kind of person she is."
Roommate interview
Detectives conducted a follow-up interview with the roommate, who denied he ever touched the infant. He said he had been left alone with the child but said the baby was sleeping the entire time and he had not touched him, the indictment says.
He also said that he noticed the infant having what he thought could have been a seizure days before the child was taken to the hospital. He said he suggested that Meyers and Shannon take him to the hospital but they didn't seem too concerned, the indictment says. He noted that he had seizures in the past and was aware of what they looked like.
Meyers is due in court Monday. Shannon is due in court for an arraignment next month.
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