A Mesa man has been charged with the first-degree murder of his six-week-old son. Arnold Barney, who was indicted for the July 28 incident in which the child was found not breathing upon his mother's return from the grocery store, faces one count of first-degree murder and one count of child abuse, the Maricopa County Attorney's Office reports.
After the baby was discovered by family members in distress and subsequently taken to the hospital, medical staff noted bruising and swelling on his face along with bleeding in the brain, during the unfortunate events that transpired while Barney was purportedly watching the child; the mother had been away, shopping with other family members, when this unfathomable scene unfolded.
Barney initially gave detectives inconsistent accounts of the event, but he eventually confessed to striking the child several times out of frustration due to the baby's crying, according to the county attorney's statement. He also admitted to placing the baby in a blanket, setting up a propped bottle, and returning to watch television while the child remained in distress in the next room. Currently held on a secured bond of $1,000,000, Barney would need to pay 10% of this amount to secure release as he awaits his trial set for April 2026.
