A Salem man was charged on Thursday with suffocating his six-month-old baby to death over a year ago, according to court documents.
Prosecutors charged Edward W. Casian, 25, in Marion County Circuit Court with first-degree murder, second-degree murder and first-degree criminal mischief.
The charges allege Casian killed his baby by asphyxiation in April 2022 after previously engaging in “a pattern and practice of assault and torture” of the baby, according to the charging document.
Salem police and paramedics responded around 7:30 a.m. on April 12 to a report that the baby was unconscious and not breathing normally, the Salem Police Department said in a news release on Thursday, May 11.
Emergency responders were unable to resuscitate the baby, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Salem police arrested Casian on Thursday as part of an investigation into the death, according to the department’s news release.
He is also accused of injuring the baby between January and April 2022.
Casian was booked into Marion County Jail, where he was being held without bail as of Thursday afternoon, the jail’s roster showed.
He is scheduled to be arraigned at 2:30 p.m. in Marion County Circuit Court.
Casian pleaded guilty in July 2017 to second-degree theft in Polk County Circuit Court. He received a deferred sentence of a year and a half of probation, and the case was dismissed in August 2018.
Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.
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Ardeshir Tabrizian has covered criminal justice and housing for Salem Reporter since September 2021. As an Oregon native, his award-winning watchdog journalism has traversed the state. He has done reporting for The Oregonian, Eugene Weekly and Malheur Enterprise.
