Investigators say home camera footage, medical records and deleted video clips helped turn a year-old infant death case into a homicide prosecution.

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — A Cheyenne man has been charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of his girlfriend’s 10-month-old daughter after investigators said a home camera recorded a scream and other evidence pointed to a homicide.

John D. Haney, 41, was arrested March 20, 2026, nearly a year after the girl died while in his care. Authorities say the case moved slowly because detectives waited for medical findings, reviewed home surveillance records and compared Haney’s account with what first responders and digital evidence showed. The charges put a March 2025 death back at the center of public attention and opened a new court fight over what happened inside Haney’s Cheyenne home that morning.

According to court records described in local reporting, Haney told investigators he agreed to watch the baby, identified in records by initials, after meeting her mother at a grocery store that morning. He said he brought the girl to his home around 8 a.m., fed her a bottle about 30 minutes later and put her down for a nap in a crib in the master bedroom. Haney told detectives the child woke on and off, and he rubbed her back to help her settle. He said he then went to the bathroom for what he first estimated was eight to 10 minutes, later saying it may have been as long as 20. When he came out around 10:05 a.m., he told investigators, the baby was face-down, motionless and not breathing. He said he began CPR and called 911 within minutes.

Investigators said the physical and digital record did not fit neatly with that account. Deputy Fire Chief Manny Muzquiz, one of the first responders, told detectives the baby’s extremities felt cold even through rubber gloves, a detail that made him doubt she had stopped breathing only moments earlier. X-rays later found fractures in one arm and both legs, and records said those injuries were in different stages of healing. Detectives also obtained Amazon data tied to Haney’s Ring camera system. That review, according to the affidavit described by local outlets, showed two video clips from that morning were deleted shortly before deputies arrived. One motion-activated recording in the living room captured what investigators believe was the child screaming at 9:40:34 a.m. A separate camera placement also became part of the case, with investigators saying Haney appeared in a bathroom doorway before footage cut off and no recording showed him leaving.

The medical review deepened the case over the following months. Authorities said the child was taken to a hospital after the 911 call and was pronounced dead there. Doctors who reviewed the skeletal injuries described them as highly concerning and suggestive of abuse, according to the affidavit. The final autopsy findings were completed in December 2025, and investigators concluded the girl died from asphyxiation, with the manner of death listed as homicide. Records also said the fractures did not directly cause the death, but they changed the direction of the investigation by giving detectives evidence of prior injury. The mother told investigators she had noticed in the weeks before the death that her daughter seemed to use her limbs less and had swelling in her legs and feet. At the time, she believed it might be related to medication for an earache, according to the affidavit.

The arrest came after what the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office called an active investigation that began in March 2025. Sheriff Brian Kozak said in a public statement that detectives had spent months following the evidence and confirming forensic details before seeking charges. Haney made his first court appearance by video on March 23. During that hearing, District Attorney Sylvia Hackl asked for a $500,000 cash bond, but Circuit Court Judge Timothy Forwood set bond at $1 million cash instead. “The court cannot understate the nature of this crime,” Forwood said, according to local reporting. Haney, who requested a public defender, responded that there was “no way” he could afford the amount. He faces a preliminary hearing to determine whether the case will move forward in district court.

The case has drawn attention in Cheyenne not only because the alleged victim was an infant, but because the investigation turned on a mix of ordinary home technology and slow-moving forensic work. Records indicate detectives had to secure a warrant for cloud-stored Ring footage, examine deletions from Haney’s account and compare those timestamps with dispatch and responder records. Haney denied intentionally deleting any clips and later said he did not remember doing so, according to the affidavit. Investigators wrote that deleting the videos would have required several deliberate actions within the app. That claim, paired with the scream recorded on camera and the medical conclusions, became central to the state’s theory that the child’s death was not sudden, natural or unexplained.

Haney remained jailed on a $1 million cash bond as of the latest public reporting, and the next milestone is the court hearing that will decide whether the felony charges are bound over for further prosecution.

Author note: Last updated April 17, 2026.