GRAND RAPIDS, Minn. -- A murder trial will be rescheduled after a judge granted a mistrial for a rural Deer River man charged with causing his infant child's death.
Emery James Jenkins pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder in the 2014 death of his 2½-month-old son, Joseph.
Itasca County Judge Korey Wahwassuck granted this week the defense's motion for a mistrial based on its claim that a defense witness was unavailable to testify due to a medical condition, according to the Itasca County Attorney's Office. The judge advised that a new trial date would be set at a later date. A pretrial hearing has been set for Feb. 22. Jenkins is being held in the Itasca County Jail.
A criminal complaint alleges that Jenkins bit the child multiple times because he wouldn't stop crying, and he refused to allow the boy to go to a scheduled medical appointment because of the injuries. Joseph Jenkins suffered a skull fracture and fractured ribs, as well as cuts and other injuries to his chest, abdomen, hands, fingers, feet and toes, according to a medical examiner's report.
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