Decked out in red and white-striped prison suit and showing no visible emotion on his face, Carthage resident Eddie A. Salazar, 29, quietly entered a plea of not guilty to a false report charge during a video teleconference sentencing Thursday morning inside Associated Circuit Court Judge Richard B. Copeland’s courtroom.
Salazar is accused of making a false report to Carthage police officers that his baby boy, Eddie Salazar Jr., was kidnapped by two masked men — one wielding a knife — who broke into his house at 227 E. Mound St. Friday night and overpowered him before beating him unconscious.
Following a frantic search Friday and into Saturday, investigators from a number of Jasper County law enforcement agencies found the eight-month-old baby’s body in Spring River, just east of Carthage.
Technical difficulties with the videoconferencing system delayed Salazar’s arraignment by more than 30 minutes, forcing a technician to enter the courtroom and fiddle with the machinery. When the system was up and running, linking the Joplin Court Building with the Jasper County Jail in Carthage, Salazar was the seventh to appear before Copeland via television set up against the courtroom’s north wall.
There, Copeland formerly arraigned the Carthage man, who twice looked down at his feet as the Class B misdemeanor charge was read by the court clerk and Copeland informed Salazar of his right to counsel, to remain silent and that any statement made would be used against him.
Salazar’s next hearing will be held at 9:05 a.m. on Wednesday, March 3.
The false report charge was issued after a man Salazar identified as one of the alleged kidnappers was investigated by police Saturday morning and found innocent of any wrongdoing.
Charges are still pending by the Jasper County prosecutor whether Salazar will be charged in the death of his son, pending findings of an autopsy of the baby conducted earlier in the week by the Boone County medical examiner.
Salazar remains in jail on a $100,000 bond and is considered by investigators to be the sole suspect in the death of his son.
