Parents sentenced to prison for child abuse homicide of 18-month-old baby
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NIBLEY, Utah (ABC4) — A Cache County couple has been sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to causing the death of their 18-month-old baby in 2025.
In December 2025, Carrie and Mitchell Murray, both 32, were each charged with child abuse homicide and aggravated child abuse.
The couple was accused of causing the death of their 18-month-old child in March 2025, after deputies with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office said they identified a “pattern of neglect.”
On July 2, the Murrays pleaded guilty to each of the charges, and the severity was reduced from first-degree to second-degree felonies as part of a plea agreement.
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Friday morning, Carrie and Mitchell Murray were each sentenced to two terms of 1 to 15 years in the Utah State Prison, to be served consecutively. They both received credit for 283 days of time served.
Case background
On March 19, 2025, at approximately 10:30 a.m., deputies with the Cache County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of an infant’s death. Investigators say they identified a “pattern of neglect” leading up to her death.
The child was found deceased in a crib in a bedroom with a running space heater. Deputies also allegedly found the child wearing long-sleeve, footed pajamas and a sleep sack with several blankets. The child’s body temperature was measured at 83 degrees.
Documents allege the child was last seen alive approximately 16 hours earlier at about 6 p.m. the day before.
Several sippy cups and a “large amount of pieces of Eggo-style waffle” were in her crib, which was reportedly very dirty with old food. Prosecutors said data from baby monitors and surveillance cameras show the child’s diaper was changed just six times during a 96-hour period.
Court documents further allege that the couple would play music all night long from Green Day, Fall Out Boy, or Panic! At the Disco, while the child slept or when she started crying. Police believe the music inhibited the child’s ability to sleep at times.
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Furthermore, police believe the baby spent the entire day, before passing away, inside her crib. The Murrays allegedly were in the room with the child for just under 50 minutes during the entire day.
ABC4.com spoke with Cache County Sheriff’s Lt. Mikelshan Bartschi following their arrest in December, who said this amount of interaction with the child was normal for the parents.
“The parents, during their interviews … identified that this is a pattern that was normal for this child and this was not an uncommon amount of time for the child to be there,” Bartschi said in December. “They stated (that) for at least the last six months this was normal for them.”
Carrie Murray has reportedly been a registered nurse since she was 21 and comes from a professional background in the medical field.
According to a probable cause affidavit, the child reportedly had no underlying medical conditions that would have contributed to the death. At the time of the autopsy, police say the child weighed 8 kilograms (roughly 17.6 pounds), which would put her “under the fifth percentile” for a child her age.
Police say the medical examiner confirmed that the infant died due to complications with malnutrition and dehydration.