TOOELE — A 29-year-old woman from Wendover has been ordered to stand trial in the death of her toddler last year.
Third District Judge Matthew Bates on Tuesday ruled there is enough evidence for the murder case against April Dawn Carter to advance to a trial. He dismissed a second charge of obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, finding there wasn't probable cause to support it.
Seventeen-month-old Baylie Rutherford died in her home Sept. 27, 2017, and was found to have bruising and "obvious injury," according to police. The state had taken custody of the child, citing drug use, but she was returned to the home about a month before her death, according to charging documents.
Baylie's father, 31-year-old Nicholas Rutherford, faces a charge of obstructing justice, a second-degree felony, and abuse of a dead body, a class B misdemeanor. He has not yet entered a plea to the charges.
Police were alarmed at the “detestable condition” of the home and the bruising and “obvious injury” to the child, according to court records.
On Tuesday, the judge bound the case over for trial following testimony during a preliminary hearing, including from a doctor and a detective.
Carter pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder, a first-degree felony. Prosecutors have indicated they will not seek the death penalty if she is convicted.
She is due back in court Dec. 11.