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Ripley man facing charge in infant’s death

By Douglass Huxley 3 min read

RIPLEY -- A Ripley man is being charged with the death of an infant, the Jackson County Sheriff's Department announced in a press conference Thursday.

John Michael Tames, of Ripley, was arraigned Monday on a count of death of a child by parent, guardian or custodian after 3-month-old "Baby Everly," as the sheriff's office is referring to her, died, Sheriff Ross Mellinger said. The child had been on life support for 30 days.

"I hope the judge absolutely hammers him when the day comes," Mellinger said.

Tames was arrested in January on a charge of child abuse by a parent, guardian or custodian causing serious bodily injury and held on a $250,000 bond at the South Central Regional Jail.

Mellinger said they have learned a great deal over the past 30 days that has helped piece together a "vivid picture" of what happened, though he did not disclose details due to the ongoing prosecution. He described the case as "gruesome" and "horrifying."

"It's a very sobering case, these cases are very, very difficult for everybody," Mellinger said.

According to the criminal complaint, on or about Jan. 5 the Ripley Police Department, along with the Jackson County Sheriff's Department, responded to reports of a 3-month-old infant who was unresponsive at 1189 Ocletree Road in Ripley.

The report said emergency workers were able to temporarily resuscitate the infant and transport her to Jackson General Hospital. It said she was transferred to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown for more advanced care.

"I think it'd be important to acknowledge the real heroes in this case, and that is the police officers, the deputies and the fire department personnel, the EMS personnel and the hospital staff at both Jack and Ruby Memorial in Morgantown," Mellinger said.

Mellinger said Tames was the boyfriend of the infant's mother. He said the mother left Tames alone with the infant to go to the store and returned to find the infant unresponsive.

"And that's when the call for service came out," Mellinger said. "Mr. Tames was the only person at home at the time, and through a series of interviews there that evening, ultimately it was revealed that Baby Everly was slammed into the floor during the assault."

Mellinger said Tames put the infant back into her crib after the assault and waited for the mother to come home.

"That's probably the most difficult part of the whole case," Mellinger said. "Not just the act itself but then you can turn a blind eye like nothing ever happened, (in the) meantime, you have a 3-month-old, essentially dying in front of you. And you can pretend like nothing happened."

Mellinger said they have received a lot of calls and emails about the "John Michael Tames case" but he said he doesn't want the focus to be about the suspect.

"I think it's important not to make these types of cases about the suspect," Mellinger said. "But more about a 3-month-old baby that will never see a high school graduation or walk down the aisle with their daddy on her wedding day. ... she'll never see kindergarten. She'll never see high school graduation, any milestone that a young girl in West Virginia would look forward to."

Tames remains in South Central Regional Jail on a $500,000 bond and Mellinger said the case will be handed to the Grand Jury at the end of February when they meet.

Douglass Huxley can be reached at dhuxley@newsandsentinel.com

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