By Barry Porterfield
A Paoli man has no choice but to stay behind bars after bond was denied Tuesday in a first-degree murder case in Garvin County District Court.
Johnny Ray Speerbrecher, 28, is accused of murdering his 2-month-old son last spring. Brody Speerbrecher died March 9.
In addition to the felony murder charge, Speerbrecher was charged with two drug offenses. Court documents state that several grams of marijuana and various types of drug paraphernalia were found in Speerbrecher’s home March 9. His home is very near Paoli’s school complex.
According to the court affidavit, Speerbrecher was caring for his son the morning of March 9, acting as “the sole caregiver for the infant from approximately 6:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.,” Lt. Travis Crawford stated in the filed document.
“During this time the defendant admits the baby was crying and states that he fed the baby. However the autopsy revealed that the baby had no food or formula in his stomach.
“Medical testimony will be that blunt force head trauma was so severe that the baby would have been knocked unconscious or would have died during the time the defendant cared for the infant.”
The defendant is reported to have claimed he was awakened by his wife at about 6:15 a.m. but quickly went back to sleep. He claimed to have fed some formula to the baby between 7 and 9 a.m.
According to investigators, the infant’s mother claimed it was about 10:30 a.m. when she awoke and found the baby in a bouncer with a baby bottle propped up in his mouth.
“She also observed that the baby was blue in color, was cool to the touch and was not breathing,” Crawford added in the affidavit.
The woman is reported to have attempted efforts to resuscitate the boy before calling 911 for an ambulance. The infant was taken to the emergency room of Pauls Valley General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead a short time later.
During a search of the Paoli residence in the 200 block of Dulin that same day, more than 40 grams of marijuana were found, along with items believed to be used in the drug’s distribution, including digital and hand-held scales, plastic bags, glass pipes, grinders, rolling papers and a “50” gram weight used to check the calibration of the scales.
Speerbrecher is also charged with drug possession and intent to deliver and with a misdemeanor charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.
