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Man Who Blew Marijuana Smoke Into Baby's Face To Treat Seizures Is Charged With Murder
Joshua Molina was arrested months after his girlfriend Amanda Dunlap got busted for the baby's murder.
An Idaho man who allegedly abused a 20-month-old baby and tried to treat her seizures with marijuana smoke has been indicted on first–degree murder charges.
Joshua Eric Molina, 33, was arraigned last Wednesday, months after his girlfriend and the baby's mother Amanda Dunlap got busted for the girl's murder.
Dunlap was charged last October shortly after her daughter, Lyryk Altom, died in a hospital. Molina wasn't initially charged because he and Dunlap had created cover stories to give the impression he was not involved in Lyryk’s medical treatment, according to the Times-News in Twin Falls.
Police used photos and text messages to build a case against Molina after his girlfriend's arrest.
"Josh broke my kid today," Dunlap texted to a friend in September, according to the Times-News. Dunlap said her boyfriend had broken the child’s wrist, but that it was an accident.
A week later, baby Lyryk was injured again under Molina’s care. At the time Molina was caring for two other children as well — his own 3-year-old son and a 3-year-old son of Dunlap’s. Molina claimed the two 3-year-olds beat up baby Lyryk, but a doctor concluded her injuries weren’t caused by small children.
On October 8, Dunlap texted the friend again. This time Lyryk was having a seizure and Molina wouldn’t let Dunlap take the baby to the hospital.
Molina tried blowing marijuana smoke into the baby’s face to help calm her seizures, according to the Times-News. If the baby went to see a doctor and tested positive for marijuana, Molina was afraid authorities would take away his own 3-year-old son, Dunlap said in a police interview.
Dunlap and a friend took Lyryk to the emergency room, where they found out she was bleeding from her brain. Doctors cited the cause as non-accidental blunt force trauma, according to the Times-News.
Baby Lyryk died in a hospital in Boise six days later.
Both Molina and Dunlap are charged with first-degree murder. Molina faces four counts of felony injury to a child and Dunlap faces eight counts of the same charge.
[Photos: Twin Falls Sheriff's Office and Ada County Sheriff's Office]
