SPIRIT LAKE, Idaho – A father was sentenced to 50 years behind bars after he killed his two-month-old baby in 2021.
Dyllan D. Towles, 24, of Spirit Lake, called police on Saturday, Sept. 18, 2021, claiming his two-month-old was not breathing. When officers arrived at the scene, they found the baby unconscious, lying face up on the floor.
According to a news release from the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office, first responders attempted life-saving measures, noticing several injuries on the child’s face, legs and arms. The baby was rushed to the hospital but died of a head injury, the prosecutor’s office said.
When questioned by police, Towles claimed the baby appeared normal without injuries the Thursday prior. On Friday, Towles told police she started to sleep excessively; then, on Saturday, she was fussy and wouldn’t respond when Towels snapped his fingers.
According to the Kootenai County Prosecutor’s Office, Towels told police the baby suddenly became unresponsive. To try and get her to respond, he told police he bit, “shook” her “pretty violently” and “played with her legs.”
Following an autopsy conducted by the Spokane County Medical Examiner’s office, blunt force injuries were found on the child’s head, neck, torso, arms and legs. Old and new fractures were located on her ribs, an arm, her shoulder and both legs.
The autopsy also showed the child had a spinal cord injury, brain bleeding and brain swelling. The prosecutor’s office said since the child also tested positive for COVID-19, the exact cause of the bleeding couldn’t be determined at that time.
In Dec. 2022, the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office consulted with a doctor and professor of pediatrics from the University of Utah School of Medicine, and a doctor and forensic pathologist from the Washington State University School of Medicine. After reviewing the case, the doctors confirmed the child’s cause of death was due to abusive head trauma and unrelated to COVID-19.
On July 6, 2023, the Kootenai County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office obtained an arrest warrant charging Towles with first-degree murder. Towles was arrested by Post Falls Police later that evening.
During another interview with authorities after his arrest, Towles told the same story he told before, later breaking down and admitting to police he shook the baby out of frustration. He claimed she was not eating and wouldn’t stop crying.
Kootenai County Criminal Chief Deputy Prosecutor Laura McClinton recommended Towles receive life in prison with parole eligibility after 30 years, but District Judge Barbara Duggan sentenced Towles to a 50-year prison sentence with parole eligibility after 25 years, adding there is no victim more helpless or innocent than the child in this case.
At the time of his arrest, Towles was still on probation from a previous case in 2019 when, at the age of 19, he was found to be in a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl.
