MISSOULA, Mont. — A man who was convicted as a juvenile of raping a child in Clallam County is charged with killing a 5-month-old baby boy in Missoula, Mont.
Marc Allen Palmer, 25, has been charged with one count of deliberate homicide in the death of 5-month-old Brayden Beal, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by Jason Marks, chief deputy county attorney in Missoula County.
Palmer was being held Sunday on $500,000 bond in the Missoula County jail after an initial appearance in Missoula County Justice Court on Wednesday.
When Missoula officers responded to a call March 30 that an infant wasn’t breathing, they noted suspicious bruising around the baby’s mouth, the affidavit says.
The child was transported to a hospital where the 5-month-old baby was pronounced dead.
An autopsy performed at the Montana State Crime Lab confirmed the bruising and the medical examiner determined the cause of death was asphyxia by smothering.
Officers said they found baby wipes with blood on them in the trash when they searched the residence. They also said they found what appeared to be blood on a pair of pants that had been used for padding in the baby’s car seat.
A DNA analysis found the blood that was on the wipes belonged to the baby, which Palmer told detectives came from a bloody nose, the affidavit says.
Detectives learned that Palmer, who was not the baby’s father, and the boy’s mother had been staying with Palmer’s mother in her trailer.
The home had one bedroom, so Palmer and the mother had been sleeping on a futon in the front room and the baby had been sleeping in his car seat on the floor near the futon, according to the affidavit.
The baby’s mother told detectives she awoke at about 2 a.m. and heard Palmer saying “knock it off Brayden,” the affidavit says.
She asked Palmer if she could take over her son, who was fussing, but Palmer told her “I got this,” the affidavit says.
After she awoke again at about 7:30 a.m., Palmer told her the baby wasn’t breathing, the affidavit says.
Palmer initially told detectives he had slept the whole night and awoke at 7:30 a.m. to find the baby unresponsive.
When detectives asked about the bloodied baby wipes, Palmer said he used the wipes to clean blood from Beal’s face after a bloody nose, then went back to sleep.
Justice of the Peace Karen Orzech told Palmer not to discuss the case with the child’s mother.
A preliminary hearing is set for July 20.
Palmer, 16 at the time, pleaded guilty Feb. 1, 2007, to raping and molesting an 8-year-old girl outside Port Angeles, according to Clallam County Superior Court records.
He had been charged in December 2006 with sexually assaulting the girl six times over the course of a year.
Palmer was ordered into 24 months of community supervision and required to register as a sex offender. He was transferred to Missoula County for the supervision.
He could no longer have any contact with children three years or more younger than him without adult supervision.
He was also ordered to attend mental health programs and to take medications as prescribed.
Palmer violated the terms of his supervision by being physically aggressive with staff, being verbally abusive and being expelled from therapy, according to a violation report filed in November 2008 by Danetta Rutton, senior probation officer with Clallam County Juvenile & Family Services.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
