Poplar Bluff man ordered to stand trial for charges related to toddler's death

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A Butler County judge ordered a local man to stand trial Monday afternoon for causing the death of a 4-year-old girl left in his care in February.

After hearing from three witnesses, including the mother of Zoey Slager, Associate Circuit Judge John Bloodworth found probable cause to bind Jeremy McIntosh, 28, of the 200 block of Midland over to stand trial on the felony of child abuse.

Bloodworth ordered McIntosh to appear at 9 a.m. April 19 before Presiding Circuit Judge Michael Pritchett for arraignment on the charge.

Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Bill Gresham's first witness was Jennifer Thrower, whose daughter Zoey was left in the care of her next-door neighbors, Jeremy McIntosh and his wife, Jamie, on Feb. 17.

Thrower said she and her husband, Adam, did not have day care for Zoey, but relied on family and friends to care for her while they were working.

On Feb. 17, Thrower said, she went to work at about 1:30 p.m., while her husband went in around 3 p.m. after having taken Zoey to the McIntosh home.

Thrower said she didn't get off work until about 10:30 p.m., and she when she had spoken with Jeremy McIntosh he told her Zoey was fine and already sleeping with his children.

It was agreed Zoey would spend the night, said Thrower, who did not work on Feb. 18, but she spoke with Jeremy McIntosh "off and on" throughout the day.

Zoey, Thrower said, stayed with Jeremy McIntosh while she and Jamie McIntosh left for part of the day to get their nails done.

Jamie McIntosh, Thrower said, picked her up because her car was still at McDonald's, where she left it after work due to a mechanical problem. She said her husband was there putting new brakes on it.

With Zoey still at the McIntosh home, Thrower said, she picked up her car and returned home to find her husband and a neighbor working on another vehicle.

After arriving home, Thrower said, Jeremy McIntosh, told her Zoey had eaten a bowl of cereal and hadn't been feeling well. The girl had gone back to bed at about 1:30 p.m.

Thrower said she left again later and texted Jeremy McIntosh to see if he wanted anything from Arby's. Jeremy McIntosh, she said, texted Zoey was OK.

Thrower said Jeremy McIntosh told her he took Zoey home and put her in her bed about 3:30 p.m.

"I went in, cracked the door; she was still asleep," with the covers over her, said Thrower, who believed that was about 4 p.m.

Zoey, according to her mother, slept a lot. "All I did was crack the door and look in; I thought she was asleep in bed," she said.

Thrower said she checked on Zoey again, but she still appeared to be sleeping. After watching some television and eating, she said, she decided to wake Zoey since it was about 6 p.m. and she didn't want her daughter up all night.

"When I went to wake her up, I found her," Thrower said.

After turning on the light, Thrower said, she saw Zoey's head looked "banged up. I thought she fell playing.

"I said her name, but she didn't move."

Thrower said she shook Zoey trying to wake her, but the girl didn't move and was unresponsive.

After pulling down the covers, Thrower said, she saw another mark in the area of her daughter's pelvic bone.

With no minutes left on her cellular telephone, Thrower said, she went to a neighbor's house, asking them to call 911.

Thrower said she last saw her daughter at about 3:30 p.m. Feb. 17 when her daughter was playing in the yard with the McIntoshes' daughters. At that time, she said, she did not see any bruising on her daughter's head.

On cross-examination, Thrower told Jeremy McIntosh's attorney, Kyle Walsh, she saw her daughter at about 3:30 p.m. Feb. 17 when she had come home from work for lunch. Zoey, she said, came up to her car and talked to her while she was there.

When Walsh asked Thrower why Zoey had spent the night at the McIntosh home, she said, it was because Jeremy McIntosh had told her she was already sleeping. She said the McIntoshes would baby sit "quite a bit -- almost every time I've needed them to."

Thrower said she found Zoey unresponsive between 6 and 6:30 p.m., which was about the same time authorities were notified.

Walsh asked whether there was a delay in contacting authorities because she had to remove the "pound of weed [marijuana]" from her home.

According to Thrower, Jeremy McIntosh and another neighbor removed a safe containing marijuana, as well as some pipes and papers, from her home.

"I didn't have them do it; they came over and got it," Thrower said.

Walsh asked Thrower whether she was under the influence of anything when authorities arrived. She said she wasn't but had smoked marijuana that morning allegedly with Jamie McIntosh before them leaving to get their nails done.

On questioning from Walsh, Thrower said, she confirmed she hadn't checked on her daughter, but let her stay with Jeremy McIntosh even after he told her she wasn't feeling well. She said she asked if the girl was throwing up or had a fever, which she wasn't.

Thrower confirmed there were a number of neighbors hanging out at her home and the McIntoshes during this two-day time span.

Butler County Chief Deputy Coroner Joe Chapman said he responded to Poplar Bluff Regional Medical Center at about 8:30 p.m. Feb. 18. Zoey had been pronounced dead by a doctor there at 8:08 p.m.

During his preliminary examination, Chapman said, he saw bruises on the girl's head and "all over her body."

In addition to the bruising on her head, Chapman said, Zoey had abrasions on an elbow and bruising in her pelvic area, as well as rib area.

Zoey also suffered from what Chapman described as "disciplinary bruising" on her buttocks.

After coming to the conclusion the injuries may have not been accidental, Chapman said, the investigation was pursued and witnesses were interviewed, including Jeremy McIntosh.

Chapman said he and Poplar Bluff Police Capt. Mike Elliott interviewed Jeremy McIntosh at the police station.

At that point, he said, Jeremy McIntosh was a witness, not the subject of the investigation.

"Jeremy had spoken about [Zoey] being lethargic and not playing much during the day," Chapman said. "At one point -- he mentioned she had fallen off a bike."

Jeremy McIntosh, he said, appeared to be possibly lying and subsequently "took responsibility for the other injuries, other bruises."

Chapman said Elliott advised Jeremy McIntosh of his rights and he agreed to continue the interview.

"He said Zoey didn't like him and she had been whining all day and wanted her mom and dad," Chapman said. "He was mad. He said he threw her onto the couch."

It is unknown whether the couch material may have caused the abrasions.

"Detective Elliott asked him about how he felt when he found her lethargic," Chapman said. "He said like anyone else would … he would be going to hell and probably go to jail for the rest of his life.

"He said he struck her head and also that he struck her five to seven times."

Jeremy McIntosh, he said, didn't indicate where he struck the other blows.

The primary cause of death, as listed on Zoey's death certificate, is blunt force trauma, Chapman said. Secondary causes are brain injury and multiple physical strikes, he said.

Zoey's death, he said, was an accident, but a homicide.

On cross-examination, Chapman said he considered all possibilities as to the manner of death, including accidental.

Butler County Coroner Jim Akers said he was able to determine an estimated time of death after being provided Zoey's core temperature upon her arrival at the hospital.

While subjective, Akers said, he and the pathologist, who conducted Zoey's autopsy, estimate her time of death to be at about 4 p.m. plus or minus 35 to 45 minutes.

Since Zoey was very small, her body temperature would decrease much faster than an adult, Akers said.

Walsh's only witness was Chapman, who was asked to determine how old Zoey's bruises were.

The bruises, including the one on her head, all occurred within 24 hours of her death, Chapman said.

Pertinent address:

Poplar Bluff, MO