Metro-east man charged with murder after baby boy suffered head, leg injuries
A mental health evaluation will be conducted on a 22-year-old man to see if he is fit to stand trial on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated battery in connection with the death of a baby boy who suffered multiple head injuries and a broken right leg last year, according to St. Clair County court records.
Tyler B. Ashdown was charged with the felonies on March 2 and was booked into the county jail on March 5.
Charging documents list the victim by the initials “L.A.” and indicate the child was about 3½ months old on July 10 when Ashdown allegedly caused “multiple closed head injuries to L.A.” This was the day after Ashdown’s 22nd birthday.
The aggravated battery charge alleges Ashdown “handled the leg of L.A. in a manner as to cause a spiral fracture of his right leg (femur) bone” sometime between March 2025 and July 10.
The court records don’t list a date or location of L.A.’s death and don’t specify the relationship between L.A. and Ashdown.
The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department investigated the case, and a spokesman for the department could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Ashdown is being represented by the St. Clair County Public Defender’s Office, which raised a “bona fide doubt” about Ashdown’s ability to stand trial, according to an order by Associate Judge Sara L. Rice on Monday.
Dr. Daniel Cuneo, a Belleville forensic psychologist who evaluates the mental fitness of defendants for courts throughout the metro-east, was ordered to evaluate Ashdown’s ability to stand trial and his “sanity.”
Since Ashdown is “indigent,” the county will pay for the examination, the court order states.
Public Defender Cathy MacElroy said it could be a month or two before she gets a report on Ashdown’s mental fitness. If Ashdown is found unfit, he will be treated in a hospital, and if he is found fit, the court case will resume, MacElroy said.
Court records list two addresses for Ashdown: one on Pin Oak Drive in Albers and the other on Lepere Court in Dupo.
Ashdown, who waived his right to a detention hearing, was being held in the county jail on Tuesday.
