The probable cause affidavit has been released outlining details of the cause of death of a male infant late last month that lead to the 2nd degree murder charge against a Baxter County woman. Twenty-nine-year-old Terra Jonell Thompson of Midway is being held in the Baxter County Detention Center on three felony charges. The victim is identified at 1-year-old Jaxson Brandenburg.
According to the affidavit and information from the Baxter County Sheriff’s Office, emergency personnel responded to a mobile home park on State Highway 126 North in Midway the afternoon of Aug. 29 for a report of an infant barely breathing. An investigator from the sheriff’s office went to the emergency room at Baxter Health and was advised Brandenburg was intubated and had bruising on the right side of his face. Hospital staff told the investigator the infant was going to be transferred to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock. They also said his face had make up on it where the bruising was, like someone was trying to cover it up.
The investigator then went to the home in Midway and met with Thompson, the only person at the house, who agreed to go to the sheriff’s office for an interview. She said the only people who live at the home are her, her mother, her five-year-old daughter, Brandenburg and his two-year-old sister. She said the infant and his sibling had been living with them for about a week and a half because the mother of the children did not have a stable home and was moving back to Arkansas from Texas. The investigator had Thompson’s mother bring the other children to the sheriff’s office while he transported her in for questioning.
Once Thompson’s mother arrived with the other children, the investigator noticed a large bruise on Brandenburg’s sister’s cheek. He noted in the affidavit it appeared like what would be seen from someone who was struck by a hand, fist or object.
During questioning, Thompson said the only people home during the day were her, the victim and his sister. She admitting Brandenburg was in his playpen and she was upset with him and “slammed him.” She said she pushed him down and he hit his head. When asked about the boy’s bruising on his face, Thompson admitted to striking the boy hard with an open hand. She put make up on it about 10-15 minutes later to try to cover it up. That was around 1:00. When Thompson’s mother got home around 3:00, they discovered the boy wasn’t breathing.
When asked if she hit the two-year-old, Thompson said she struck the girl in the face because she was upset she was crying.
The two-year-old was taken into care by a friend of the mother. Thompson’s five-year-old daughter was turned over to the custody of the Department of Human Services.
The investigator was informed by the Pulaski County Coroner’s Office Brandenburg’s life support was terminated by a DNR order and he was pronounced dead at 11:27 the next morning.
Thompson is facing felony charges of second degree murder; first degree domestic battering involving someone four years of age or younger, which is a class Y felony, the most serious crime in Arkansas not punishable by the death penalty; and second degree domestic battery. She is being held in the Baxter County Detention Center with bond set at $100,000.
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