Man charged over baby's drowning named
Jaye Lee Walton was not brought before Ipswich Magistrates Court when his matter was first mentioned on Wednesday morning.
Mr Walton, 42, was arrested in the suburb of Bundamba – a suburb of Ipswich – on Tuesday following a major update in the police investigation into the child's drowning, which occurred on July 12.
Emergency services were called to Chatsworth Park, north of Gympie, about 10.40am on Saturday after reports the seven-month-old was found unresponsive in a lake.
The child was rushed to Gympie Hospital but died that night.
During a brief mention at court on Wednesday, lawyer Mark Butler – from Osborne Butler Lawyers – asked for his client's matter to be adjourned to Thursday.
The court was told this was to determine if Mr Walton was in a 'show cause' position with regards to a bail application.
Under Queensland law, defendants in a 'show cause' will need to demonstrate to a court their imprisonment on remand is not justified.
Outside court, Mr Butler did not comment on the matter as he hurriedly exited into the nearby watch house.
The major update in the case followed police on Monday saying the circumstances surrounding the baby's death were 'unclear'.
Chatsworth Park is a well-used rest stop and campsite for highway travellers and has become a place where some homeless people stay long-term.
'Some people stay there permanently and some others are transient, they're just passing through town looking for a place to sleep and the council allows for that,' Inspector Mansfield said on Monday.
Police are hoping to speak to anyone who was in the area between 9am and 11am on Saturday – including drivers who may have just been passing through.
'We have information that other vehicles were parked up in the rest stop area,' Inspector Mansfield said.
'They either left just prior or during, we just don't know until we speak to them.
'There were a couple of vehicles that left the scene who may or may not have seen or heard anything, but we just need to track them down in case they did.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Warning over 'harmless' $500 cash boost as side hustle's dark underbelly exposed
Aussies have been urged not to rent out their bank accounts as they are likely being used as money mules for criminals. (Source: Getty) Australians have been urged not to be duped into signing up for a seemingly harmless side hustle that has roped in thousands of people. It might not sound that bad to rent out your bank account to someone, however, this is usually done for nefarious purposes. A money mule is someone who receives illegally acquired money from someone, typically a scammer or hacker, and then transfers it to another account, sometimes overseas, to avoid it being traced and returned to the victim. Mules can be paid between $200 to $500, plus commissions of up to 10 per cent, for each completed transfer. But the Australian Banking Association (ABA) and Australian Federal Police (AFP) are cracking down on this trend. RELATED The money mule problem in Australia is growing There were 9,000 mule accounts detected in the 2023-24 financial year, and nearly 13,000 were discovered in the 2024-25 financial year. A Sydney woman was jailed in April this year after authorities found she had rented out 10 bank accounts to an overseas money laundering syndicate. After a thorough investigation, they found those accounts had been used to launder nearly $4 million worth of criminal funds. That money was eventually transferred overseas, which made it much harder for Australian police and banks to retrieve it. Do you have a story? Email How does the money mule system work? Criminals will usually reach out to unsuspecting people on social media, messaging or gaming platforms, chat forums, online advertisements and even in face-to-face meetings. They'll lure them in with promises of easy money without having to lift a finger and claim that everything they're doing is above board. All they need is access to your bank account and you'll get to rake in the money, they'll claim. The AFP said these offers will typically present themselves in three distinct ways:
New York Times
2 hours ago
- New York Times
Malcolm-Jamal Warner Drowned in Area Known for Rip Currents
The beach in Costa Rica where Malcolm-Jamal Warner drowned was known for its strong surf and dangerous rip currents, and was not protected by lifeguards when he died on Sunday. A second man who was rescued from the sea that day was in critical condition, the authorities said. Warner, who shot to fame as a teenager when he played Theo Huxtable on 'The Cosby Show' from 1984 to 1992, was swimming at a beach on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, south of Limón, when he was 'apparently swept away by a current' around 2 p.m. on Sunday, the nation's Judicial Investigation Department said in a statement. Three ambulances, a jet ski and nine rescuers were dispatched to the area, Playa Grande, a popular tourist destination, a spokesman for the Costa Rican Red Cross said in a statement. Warner, 54, was pulled from the sea and given CPR for more than 20 minutes, but attempts to resuscitate him failed, officials said. A second man, 35, was rescued and taken to a local clinic in critical condition, the Red Cross said. He was not identified, and no other details were given. The area, whose waves make it a favorite among surfers, is known for dangerously strong rip currents. Mike Geist, the vice president of Caribbean Guard, a group of about 35 volunteer lifeguards who patrol three beaches in the area, said a lack of resources had left the beach where Warner died unguarded on Sunday. The group had temporarily moved its team to another beach that draws more people and had recently been the site of several rescues and a fatality. 'We had to make this judgment call, and it turned out to be bad,' Geist said, lamenting that his organization did not have the funds to staff the beach every day. 'It sickens my stomach that we weren't there, because I can't tell you how many days I personally spent there on that post, in that guard stand, and because of stupid money, you know, and we just did not have enough people to do it.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Woman who killed baby in 1986 sentenced to probation in cold case DNA probe
A woman who killed her infant son in 1986 in Connecticut and went on to live a seemingly quiet, normal life with her family in Florida for three decades was sentenced Tuesday to five years of probation. Janita Phillips, 65, of Lake Mary, Florida, was charged with murder in 2021, after police said new DNA testing linked her to the crime. She pleaded guilty to a lesser manslaughter charge in April. The probation sentence was unusual in a child homicide case, but warranted because a peer-reviewed psychological assessment concluded Phillips experienced 'extreme emotional distress' at the time of the killing, both the prosecutor and defense lawyer said. Judge Gary White in Stamford, Connecticut, called it a case deserving mercy. When Phillips killed the infant, she and her husband had just moved into an apartment in Greenwich, Connecticut, with their eldest child after being homeless and her husband had told her he didn't want another baby, her lawyer, Stephen DeLeo, said. The couple, who remain together and have been married for 42 years, were stressed about money and their ability to feed their family, DeLeo said. Phillips told police she hid the pregnancy from her husband and other relatives, an arrest warrant said. Police said her husband did not know about the baby's death and had no involvement. Phillips and her husband have three children who are now adults. One of their sons is disabled and resides at an assistant living facility, while her husband has medical problems and she takes care of him, DeLeo said in an interview. 'Incarcerating her would serve no purpose at this time,' DeLeo said, adding that this case was Phillips' only brush with the law in her life. He also said she lost her insurance industry job because of the case. Phillips cried during the sentencing hearing and said she had a 'deep sense of regret.' She also said she took full responsibility, DeLeo said. Under her sentence, if she violates probation she could face up to 20 years in prison. The newborn child, named Baby John by police, was found dead in a garbage truck on May 16, 1986, after workers had emptied a dumpster at the apartment building in Greenwich where Phillips lived, authorities said. The chief medical examiner's office determined the baby was strangled shortly after being born and ruled his death a homicide. Phillips and her family moved to Florida shortly after the baby's death, police said. Greenwich police said they used newly available DNA testing in 2020 that linked evidence found at the crime scene to the boy's mother. Police took items out of the trash and recycling at Phillips' Florida home in 2020. DNA testing showed Phillips and her husband were the parents of the infant, authorities said.
