UPDATE 9/26/08  – Jennifer Spoerl has been arrested and charged with one count of “unlawful conduct toward a child” in connection with an incident that happened the day before her son Blaise’s murder. On Sunday, SeptemberSeptember reviews 14, Jennifer and Justin Hillerby took Blaise to the neighborhood pool, where witnesses say the couple argued and drank alcohol while Blaise kept falling into the pool. Several times, the baby had to be rescued by other swimmers.  Jennifer Spoerl is out on $20,000 surety bond.

Justin Hillerby and Blaise Preston Spoerl

Summerville, SC – Justin Hillerby’s Myspace page is private now.  His mood is set to “scared”.  And he just wants to “relax with Jenn until things are done with”.  Things like his trial for killing his girlfriend’s 22-month-old son, no doubt.  Blaise Preston Spoerl, not quite two years old, was pronounced dead on the morning of Monday, September 15.   His mother, Jennifer Spoerl, discovered her son’s body.

Whatever happened on SundaySunday reviews night, it was almost certainly not what Justin Hillerby told police.  Jennifer Spoerl went out that night and left one-year-old Blaise and his eight-year-old sister with Hillerby, her live-in boyfriend.  At some point during the evening, Blaise ended up fatally injured and bleeding.  He died alone in his crib sometime that night or the next morning.

On Monday morning, Jennifer Spoerl got home at about 1:40 a.m.  She’d been out partying with friends and went to bed.  After she got up and got her daughter off to school, Spoerl noticed her son was sleeping in very late.  At about 10:45 a.m., she went to check on Blaise and found him unresponsive, cold, stiff, and “covered in blood”. Justin Hillerby called 911:

Operator: Summerville 911.

Caller: Yes, I need an ambulance right away. 402 dovetail drive.

Operator: ok, what’s going on?

Caller: he’s bleeding. His face is bleeding. He’s not moving. He’s hard as rock. He’s fuckin’ dead.

Operator: who is it?

Caller: it’s my step son. He’s two years old. He’s almost two year old. 402 dovetail drive.

Operator: sir, did he fall? Did he fall?

Caller: he’s in his crib. He’s in his crib. He’s got blood all over his face.

Help came, but it was much too late for baby Blaise.

Jennifer Spoerl told investigators that a bruise found on Blaise’s face could have come from a fall at a swimming pool earlier Sunday. Also, she said, Blaise was asthmatic.  Maybe that could have done it.

Um, not buying it.  “Covered in blood” probably means a massive brain hemorrhage or other trauma, not “oops, the baby fell down hours earlier”.  And apparently police didn’t buy it either, because they called Justin Hillerby and asked him to visit the station for a little discussion on Wednesday morning.

During that Q&A session, Hillerby said that Blaise seemed listless and wouldn’t eat on Sunday evening.  Hillerby allowed as how he’d tried to feed the toddler with little success, so he just put Blaise to bed and didn’t worry any more about it, figuring the baby was tired.

A roommate of the couple’s, Brandi Mihil, told police that when she and another roommate got back from dinner on Sunday,  Blaise was crying in the living room.  Mihil said Hillerby had put Blaise “in the corner” for knocking over his beer.

Summerville police arrested Justin Hillerby on Wednesday and charged him with one count of homicide by child abuse.  He is being held pending a bond hearing sometime today. The Berkeley County Coroner’s office has not publicly released the autopsy results, saying only that there was “trauma”, which seems kind of obvious.

Blaise’s older sister was taken out of school on Wednesday and placed in emergency protective custody by Berkeley County Department of Social Services.

As always, I’ll update as information comes in.

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911 phone call

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