A 33-year-old Denver man is charged with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death after his 2-month-old son died from hot water burns, according to an arrest affidavit.
Tony Lee Vigil was arrested on Jan. 23, just over a month after his 2-month-old son, TJ, died at Children’s Hospital in Aurora from burns covering 40% of his body.
TJ’s mother, 30-year-old Jaylyn Rose Vigil, is charged with tampering with evidence.
According to an arrest affidavit, Tony and Jaylyn Vigil brought TJ to the hospital with “severe burns to his body” at 2 a.m. on Dec. 16. The couple told medical staff and a social worker TJ had a “blowout” in his diaper at their apartment in the 800 block of Park Avenue West, but gave differing accounts of who gave him a bath and whether they used a thermometer to check the temperature of the water.
Jaylyn Vigil said both parents bathed the baby and she was worried about a chemical burn caused by a new shampoo, according to the affidavit. Tony Vigil said he bathed the baby in lukewarm water, but after 20 minutes TJ started to get red and his cheeks swelled up.
A social worker called Denver police because the couple gave differing accounts of what happened.
Hospital staff later found the baby also had a bilateral brain injury, a broken wrist and broken rib, according to the affidavit.
Jaylyn Vigil later told police when Tony Vigil woke her up to tell her about TJ’s skin peeling, she did not see the baby bath in the tub and that it was in the living room and dry.
TJ died on Dec. 20 after going into multi-organ failure as a result of the burns, according to the arrest affidavit.
His death was ruled a homicide on Thursday by the Denver Office of the Medical Examiner, and his cause of death was complications from a thermal injury or scalding.
Tony Vigil is in custody on a $500,000 cash bail and is set to appear in court Sept. 19. Jaylyn Vigil is set to appear in court Aug. 19.
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Originally Published: June 20, 2024 at 7:15 p.m.
