CALGARY — A Calgary father has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his infant son, as court heard the man's 911 call in which he said he was trying to calm the baby down.
The trial for Anthony Karl Kurucz, 32, started Monday in the Court of King's Bench in Calgary.
Police have said emergency crews were called to a Calgary home in April 2018 to help a three-month-old in medical distress and that Kurucz was alone with his son at the time. The infant, Jayden Cyluck-Kurucz, was unconscious and he died in hospital two days later.
Kurucz was charged in September 2019 after police said the story he provided to medical staff was inconsistent with the boy's symptoms.
On Monday, court heard a recording of the 911 call from Kurucz that came in at about 12:15 p.m. on April 25, 2018.
"My baby was freaking out," Kurucz said on the call. "I was trying to calm him down, rock him, that kind of thing."
He told the dispatcher his son's eyes were open but there was blood coming out of his nose.
"I'm freaking out because my wife just went to take our dog to the vet," Kurucz said.
He said he believed the boy's heart was still beating.
"He's very floppy, he's very limp," added Kurucz.
When asked by the dispatcher whether the baby was breathing, he responded: "I can't tell. I know his heart is beating, though."
He then asked whether his son was going to live.
"I don't know what to do," Kurucz said on the call. "I didn't do anything wrong to him. I was just trying to calm him down and rock him.
"He's not going to die, is he?"
Kurucz asked the dispatcher, Craig Moxley, whether police were coming to the house. Moxley said no, and noted during his testimony that paramedics and firefighters were initially dispatched to the scene.
Court heard fire crews were the first to arrive at the home in southeast Calgary.
One of the senior firefighters, Greg Heise, testified that the crew found Kurucz outside.
"The father was holding Jayden on the sidewalk," Heise said Monday. "We were probably caught a little off guard.
"The father said, 'He's not breathing.' We took over patient care."
His colleague, Nathaniel Trotter, testified later Monday that Kurucz gave him the baby.
"I was handed a blue, unconscious and unresponsive infant," said Trotter. "He says, 'Help me, help me, can you please help my baby?'"
Trotter said the baby had no pulse, was not breathing and had dried blood around his nose and mouth.
Crown attorney Hyatt Mograbee asked him what he thought at that moment.
"This infant is in serious trouble," said Trotter.
He said he placed Jayden on the ground and started CPR, while Heise tried to open Jayden's airway.
"I was not able to do that," Heise told court earlier in the day.
He said the father didn't provide much information when he asked what happened.
"He was freaking out," said Heise, who noted it was difficult to get a clear answer from Kurucz. "He initially stayed with us.
"At some point, he mentioned he needed to have a cigarette."
Heise said he and Trotter continued to work on Jayden until paramedics arrived a few minutes later.
Jayme Erickson, an advanced care paramedic, testified that the ambulance arrived around 12:26 p.m. and she saw firefighters working on a "blue and lifeless" infant in the front yard.
She and a colleague hooked up some more advanced equipment to check his heart rhythm, she said.
"When we hook him up, he's in pulseless electrical activity," said Erickson, wiping away tears. "The heart is not physically beating.
"Clinically, Jayden is in cardiac arrest."
She said she knew the boy needed medication and to get to a hospital.
Paramedics put him onto a stretcher and into an ambulance where CPR continued and he was given epinephrine, or adrenalin, to try to stimulate his heart, she said.
"Upon arriving at hospital, we did get a heartbeat back," said Erickson, noting care was then handed over to emergency room physicians.
Trotter, who helped with CPR in the ambulance, said he stayed at the hospital for about five minutes.
"I didn't want to see the outcome so I left," he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2022.
Colette Derworiz, The Canadian Press
