From staff reports
A Henderson County couple has been jailed on manslaughter charges following a three-month investigation into the death of their infant son.
Shawn Davis Wagner and Kristina Fay Tello were arrested Thursday by Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Caresa Ballard and Texas Ranger Trace McDonald. Wagner and Tello were booked in connection with the death of four-month-old Hayden J. Wagner. They were in custody at the Henderson County Jail Friday morning awaiting arraignment.
Henderson County Sheriff’s Office reports state Investigator Ballard, Investigator David Faught and Major Kevin Hanes were sent to East Texas Medical Center in Gun Barrel City on May 5 where they found the child in an emergency room. Officers saw that the boy was grossly underweight, with his bones visible through his skin. The report further stated that the child’s eyes were sunken into his head.
Investigators learned that the child had been transported from 374 East Quanah Street after he was found not breathing. He had been under the direct care of Wagner and Tello, Sheriff Ray Nutt said.
Henderson County Justice of the Peace Precinct 2 Dale Blaylock conducted an inquest and ordered the body sent to the Southwesten Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas. The autopsy results were returned to Ballard, who is the lead investigator in the case. The coronor’s report stated that the cause of death was starvation and the manner of death was homicide.
