FARMINGTON -- It took nearly three years, but Mark Wing is now taking responsibility for the death of his infant child.
Wing, 34, Clearfield, was formally charged Monday with manslaughter, a second-degree felony, for the Feb. 23, 1996, death of his 7-week-old son, Ian. The exact cause of death was never determined, but the baby suffered 29 rib fractures and numerous other injuries, prosecutors say.Wing made his first court appearance before 2nd District Judge Michael Allphin Monday and waived a preliminary hearing. He is expected to plead guilty at his arraignment Dec. 22.
In exchange for his plea, prosecutors say they will not file murder or child abuse charges.
"We've been working on the case for some time to try to reach some sort of compromise or fair resolution, and we hope we've accomplish that," said defense attorney Troy Rawlings.
The Clearfield Police Department began to investigate the case after officials at Primary Children's Medical Center asked the medical examiner to conduct an autopsy on the suspicious death of 7-week-old Ian Wing on Feb. 23, 1996, said Assistant Attorney General Rob Parrish, who is the office's chief child abuse counsel.
But, despite finding evidence of 29 separate rib fractures and other injuries, the medical examiner could not determine the cause of death, Parrish said.
According to the medical examiner's report, "because an infant's ribs are cartilaginous and extremely pliable, it would take a great deal of force to cause the rib fractures," Parrish states in the probable cause statement filed with the charges. Also, "both the number and nature of the rib fractures precluded the likelihood that they were caused by accident."
Additional fractures were found on one of the baby's arms and both thighs. All the fractures were of differing ages and likely happened over several weeks, Parrish said.
The Davis County District Attorney's Office transferred the case to the Attorney General's Office about a year ago to let a team of experts that specialize in child abuse cases continue the investigation.
"It's a very difficult case medically," Parrish said. The child had no signs of shaken baby syndrome, which would have been easier to prove, he said.
The 29 rib fractures made the death "very suspicious, but it didn't help us to prove what happened," Parrish said.
After a thorough investigation and witness interviews, authorities confronted Mark Wing last summer with the information they had gathered, and he admitted to having squeezed the baby five times, Parrish said.
Without that admission, Parrish said prosecutors would have been left with a difficult circumstantial case where they would have had to rule out every other possible scenario to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Wing was indeed responsible for the death.
Wing was unemployed at the time and was taking care of his three children -- the victim, and his two older siblings, a 4-year-old girl and a 1-year-old boy -- while his wife, Cara Wing, was working several shifts and out of the house most of the day, Parrish said.
Mark Wing told investigators he squeezed the baby extremely hard before putting him to bed about 12:30 a.m., Parrish said. Afterward, the baby had a hard time catching his breath.
Wing wrapped Ian tightly in a blanket and put him to bed, and "the baby did not fuss or cry after being put in the cradle," the charges state.
The mother arrived shortly after that, but did not check on the baby and left the next morning about 6:30 a.m. About 8:30 a.m., Mark Wing found the baby face down in the cradle and realized that he was not breathing and had turned gray, the charges state.
At about 10 a.m., the family babysitter called to see when he was bringing the children to her that day, and Wing told her the baby had died, the charges state. The babysitter told him to call 911 immediately, and he did.
Parish said the abuse appeared to be the result of frustration. "I think even now he's confused that what he did could have caused the baby's death," he said. However, Wing had a history of being "controlling and very violent" in two prior marriages.
"Both of Mr. Wing's ex-wives report that he had a fascination with death, that he tortured and killed animals, including family pets, when he was angry or trying to make a point with the wife, and that he had threatened suicide," the charges state. "Mark Wing expressed to his first wife that he would be fascinated to watch as a person died."
Investigators for the Division of Child and Family Services found some signs of minor physical abuse among the older children, now ages 6 and 4, and took them into temporary custody, Parrish said. Since, Mark and Cara Wing have divorced, and Cara has been granted full custody of the two children.
At the conclusion of a juvenile court trial in December 1997, Wing was allowed to live with a girlfriend and her two young children, ages 10 months and 3 years, but custody of his natural children was terminated, Rawlings said. Prosecutors will wait for a presentence report to make a final recommendation about Wing's sentence. Once he pleads guilty, Wing faces a maximum 15 years in prison.
"Given the nature of what happened, I would be surprised if he didn't go to prison," Parrish said.