Man Held on Suspicion of Murder in Newport Death of Girlfriend’s Baby
A house painter has been arrested on suspicion of murdering his girlfriend’s 22-month-old child, Newport Beach police said Monday.
Brian Laudenback, 32, was arrested Sunday in Costa Mesa, a day after he had been released on $10,000 bail. He initially had been arrested on suspicion of corporal punishment of Tyler Jaeger, the only child of Karey Jaeger, 22, of Newport Beach. But an autopsy found abnormal hemorrhage of the child’s liver and pancreas due to infliction of a blunt instrument, said Sgt. John Desmond.
Laudenback is being held without bail and will be arraigned Wednesday in Harbor Municipal Court.
The child had been recovering from a previous head injury when Laudenback brought him to Hoag Hospital Friday with a fractured skull.
A memorial fund has been set up by Jaeger and her parents, Don and Gayle, at the Bank of America in Glendora to defray medical and funeral costs and to help the special-education children she teaches, said Don Jaeger.
“She thought it would be neat to help out the only kids she has left,” he said of his daughter.
Contributions to the Tyler Jaeger Memorial Fund can be made to Bank of America, 115 W. Foothill Blvd., Glendora, Calif. 91741.
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