By Becky Graham - bio | email
Posted by Rachel Folz - email
MOUNT VERNON, IN (WFIE) – A four-month-old baby boy is dead, and the father of the child arrested.
23-year-old Alex Lear is in the Posey County jail charged with murder, neglect of a dependent resulting in death and battery resulting in the death of four-month-old Bryson Clardy.
Friday morning Lear will leave the jail and make his first court appearance, and police and family members of the boy say this will not be his first time in front of a judge.
"The mother is very distraught," said Grant Beloat of the Mt. Vernon Police Department.
"When you are dealing with the death of a four-month-old child, it's hard on myself and my deputies," said Eddie Goff, Warrick Co. Coroner.
James Clardy, grandfather of four-month-old Bryson James, echos law enforcement's sentiments. Clardy has been urging his daughter to end her relationship with 23-year-old Timothy Alex Lear.
He says Lear left her with a bump on her four head and a black eye years ago.
Tuesday his worst fear become a reality when Mt. Vernon police arrested Lear on three felony counts, one for murdering his 4-month-old grandson.
"This is the first murder of the year. It's even more tragic when it involves the death of a 4-month-old," Beloat said.
Mt. Vernon police say when they arrived at Green Valley Apartments where Lear was babysitting Monday night, Bryson was not breathing.
The baby was taken to Evansville and placed on a ventilator just before midnight. On Monday the baby was pronounced dead.
An autopsy was conducted Tuesday and the coroner ruled it a homicide. The cause of death is listed as blunt force trauma.
"There were trauma that was noted in multiple areas of the child body," Goff said.
This isn't Lear's first brush with violence. In the last four years Lear has had a half-dozen protective orders filed against him.
He also spent some time in the Vanderburgh Co. Jail for battery, confinement and intimidation.
Copyright 2011 WFIE. All rights reserved.
Previous mug shot of Lear from the Vanderburgh Co. Sheriff's Office
