Justin Dwyer, 29, and Courtney Stash, 28, are accused of involuntary manslaughter, aggravated assault, conspiracy, reckless endangering another person and endangering the welfare of children as a result of their son’s, 2-year-old Eoin Dwyer, death on April 25, PEOPLE reports.
According to the arrest report, officers responded to the parents’ home in April and found Eoin (pronounced ‘Owen’) unresponsive. Dwyer and Stash allegedly tied a mattress on top of the toddler’s crib using bungee cord and weighed the mattress down with a 50-lb. bag of rock salt so he couldn’t climb out. Eoin tried to get out and got trapped with his head above the crib’s railing. Asphyxia was his pronounced cause of death.
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Eoin was one of Stash’s triplets of whom she gave birth on Christmas Day in 2014. The other toddlers—two girls—were unharmed.
In May, investigators spoke to Eoin’s half-brother, an 8-year-old who says he heard Dwyer and Stash talking about the mattress just after the incident. They spoke about “holding Eoin down on his neck so that he could not get out,” the boy recalled.
Though an initial court hearing on Wednesday, August 23, set the parents’ bail at $250,000, they are set to return to court this week to enter their pleas. And while Stash’s attorney wouldn’t comment at this point in the case, Dwyer’s attorney has been speaking to local media about his client’s situation.
“This was a tragedy and an accident,” Scott Grenoble told PennLive. “We don’t think there is basis for criminal charges. The truth will be borne out.”
At this time, PennLive reports that the couple’s other children are being cared for by a family member. The family is mourning the loss of their young relative as Dwyer and Stash’s prosecution moves forward.
“Eoin was a fun loving boy who loved making his family laugh,” his family wrote in an obituary. “He loved all things that little boys love including being a member of the clean plate club. He got in to everything and then gave a grin of mischief. He will be deeply and lovingly missed by his family.”
Photo credit: Lebanon County Correctional Facility / AP
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