CHEYENNE — The mother of a 4-month-old boy who died from severe brain injuries that doctors have determined were caused by abuse made multiple internet searches on her phone relating to “shaken baby syndrome,” and 58 text messages are missing from her phone in the hours before the infant suffered a debilitating seizure.
That’s according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in Laramie County Circuit Court Thursday in the first-degree murder case of Juliette Martinez, 23, and Joseph Hanson, 24, the boy’s parents.
Both were arrested Wednesday after a monthslong investigation into the death of their 4-month-old son, who was hospitalized on Aug. 8, 2025, and died a month later on Sept. 8 when he was taken off life support, the Cheyenne Police Department reported Thursday in an announcement of their arrests.
Both made their first court appearances before Circuit Court Judge Timothy Forwood on Thursday afternoon via closed-circuit video from the Laramie County Detention Center.
They each face a first-degree murder charge, which carries a sentence of life in prison or the death penalty.
They wore jail-issued jumpsuits with wide orange-and-white stripes, and both were shackled throughout the hearing. When asked to raise their right hands by the judge, their motion was limited by the shackles and they could only raise them to about elbow level.
Neither said anything other than answering “yes” and “no” to Forwood’s questions.
Do you understand the charges against you? “Yes,” each answered.
Do you have any questions about the charges? “No,” they each said.
Do you want a public defender appointed to represent you? “Yes.”
Judge Forwood then set each of their bonds at $500,000 cash.
‘Twin Resentment’
The condition of the infant, referred to in the affidavit written by CPD Detective Mike Webster, was brought to the attention of police at about 5:43 p.m. Aug. 8 by personnel at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center (CRMC).
They were concerned because the boy, referred to by the initials TH, had serious injuries that required more advanced medical care, but Martinez and Hanson weren’t responding to staff who needed their consent to life-flight the infant to Children’s Hospital Colorado, the affidavit says.
It was then police also were told that Hanson allegedly had earlier told a nurse that Martinez had “twin resentment,” and that TH has a twin and also an 18-month-old sister, Webster wrote.
When an officer went to their home in the 100 block of Miami Circle, “Juliette answered the door … (and) appeared to have just woken up. Juliette reported to Officer (Timothy) Campolong prior to taking TH to CRMC, she observed TH having fast breathing.”
She called for Hanson, “and they both agreed TH’s ‘breathing was off,’” the affidavit says. They then picked him up and noticed the boy was shaking, but weren’t sure it was a seizure.
That was about 11:30 to 11:35 a.m., but they didn’t take the 4-month-old to the hospital for about 45 minutes, the affidavit notes.
After the infant was flown to the Colorado hospital, doctors there documented a long list of serious injuries, including multiple fractures in both legs and a broken arm, along with what would prove fatal head injuries, the affidavit says.
“On Sept. 2, 2025, a brain death test was performed on TH at Children’s Hospital Colorado, and the test results were consistent with brain death,” the affidavit says.
Days later, on Sept. 8, he was taken off life support and died, according to the Cheyenne Police Department report.
What The Doctors Say
Four days after the boy was flown to the Colorado hospital, Webster wrote that he received medical reports that included a list of injuries, which included:
• Damage to the upper part of the brain caused by a lack of oxygen.
• Evidence of severe trauma that caused the brain to swell.
• A small hemorrhage to the right side of his brain.
• Multiple fractures to the upper and lower legs.
• An L2 fracture of a vertebra in the child’s spine.
• Possible fracture of the posterior left third rib.
Dr. Denise Abdoo, who is on the hospital’s Child Protection Team, told police that “TH’s injuries are consistent with child abuse,” the affidavit says. “Diagnosis is abusive head injury and child physical abuse. If TH expires, this will be fatal child physical abuse.”
The next day, another neurosurgeon at the hospital advised the police detective that “TH’s imaging and clinical picture are consistent with a nonsurvivable diffuse hypoxic injury and severe cerebral edema,” Webster wrote.
In layman’s terms, that’s extensive brain damage caused by lack of oxygen and severe swelling of the brain.
Also, the fractures appeared to be recent, having been “caused withing days of TH being admitted,” the affidavit says.
“I asked Dr. Adboo if TH could have appeared normal and not shown any effects from the brain injury for days or a week prior,” the affidavit says, adding that “Dr. Abdoo responded ‘no.’”
What The Parents Said
Both Martinez and Hanson were interviewed multiple times following the hospitalization of their son, Webster wrote.
Three days after the boy was hospitalized, Martinez said she slept from 5 to about 11:20 a.m. on Aug. 8, then noticed Hanson was home in the bathroom.
“Juliette got up and went to the kitchen to grab her breast pump and went back to the bedroom,” she reportedly told investigators, the affidavit says. “Juliette was sitting on the bed when she noticed TH’s breathing.
“Joseph came into the bedroom and acknowledged TH’s breathing was odd. They picked TH up and Juliette attempted to open TH’s eyes. TH started shaking and they put him down in the bassinet.”
That’s when Juliette said she recorded a video of the infant and sent it to Hanson’s mother, who told them to take him to the hospital.
For his part, Hanson said he was awake the night before with TH in the living room with him. After sleeping for about two hours, Hanson said he woke up around 4 a.m. and gave the boy a bottle, which he drank, the affidavit says.
Hanson said he left the house at about 7:30 a.m. to go to work, and that “TH was in Juliette’s care while he was at work and there were no other caretakers around.”
After interviewing both parents, their cellphones were seized with a search warrant, Webster wrote. An examination of Martinez’s phone pinpointed some perceived irregularities.
One is that her phone was active on TikTok and Snapchat between 8:03 and 9:29 a.m. that morning, while Martinez had previously told police she was asleep at that time, the affidavit says.
The document goes on to list a number of web searches made with her phone after the 4-month-old showed signs of having seizures. Those include:
• “Shaken baby syndrome symptoms”
• “Shaken baby syndromes symptoms go away”
• “Signs father gave baby shaken baby syndrome”
• “Seizures in 5 month old baby”
• “Seizures in 5 month old baby longer than 5 minutes”
• “Diabetes in 5 month old baby”
• “Can high blood sugar cause seizures in diabetics”
• “Seizure high blood sugar baby”
Along with the search history, “Juliette’s phone has 58 missing text messages between 6:42 a.m. and 11:45 hours,” the affidavit says, adding that the phone was at her home all day the day before and didn’t leave until 11:59 a.m. Aug. 8, “which was just after the seizures occurred.”
There’s nothing in the affidavit about Hanson’s phone other than it left the home at 7:18 a.m. and returned a few hours later at 10:50.
Both Martinez and Hanson were set for preliminary hearings on April 17, at which time a judge will decide if there’s enough evidence to support a trial on their first-degree murder charges.
Greg Johnson can be reached at greg@cowboystatedaily.com.
