MESA - A man baby-sitting a 7-month-old hours before the infant died last summer has been arrested in Mesa.
Police arrested Justin Richard Sobolik, 25, on suspicion of child abuse and first-degree murder one day after medical examiners determined the death of his girlfriend's baby, Logan Nicholas Balk, was a homicide, said Mesa police spokeswoman Diana Tapia.
Almost nine months ago, Sobolik was baby-sitting Logan at his girlfriend's apartment. At some point early that evening, Sobolik heard the boy crying. He told police that when he picked Logan up, the boy's body went limp.
Sobolik called emergency crews and Logan was taken to a nearby hospital where he died the next day.
On Monday, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office determined the child died of "blunt force trauma to the head," Tapia said. The boy's mother, Amanda Tareski, could not be located for comment on Tuesday.
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But the East Valley Tribune reports her online MySpace page shows her motherly devotion to her son. "Little Logan has been home for a couple of weeks now and despite my lack of sleep and sometimes grumpy mood, I couldn't be happier to be a mom and to finally have my baby in my arms," she wrote in January 2006. "I love him so much."
It was the most recent posting on the page.
