Jury selection begins in trial of Marion man accused of beating his baby to death

Jury selection begins today for the trial of a Marion County, Tenn., father charged in the 2012 battering death of his 3-month-old son.

More than four years after baby Colin Eugene Russell’s death, his father, Christopher Russell, formerly of Sequatchie, Tenn., will face a jury on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse.

12th Judicial District Attorney General Mike Taylor said Friday opening arguments could begin later today. The court docket is blocked out all week for the trial.

Russell was named a person of interest early in the investigation that began June 17, 2012, when the infant stopped breathing at his Sequatchie home. The baby was taken to Grandview Medical Center in Jasper, Tenn., then transferred to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville.

Prosecutors and investigators went to Vanderbilt to interview the doctor who treated Colin before the family agreed to discontinue life support on June 23, 2012, the Times Free Press reported.

A 12-page autopsy report by associate medical examiner Dr. Bridget B. Eutenier listed the cause of death as homicide. The report noted contusions on Colin’s head, injuries that included blood clotting in several areas of his brain and “extensive” hemorrhaging in the optic nerves of both eyes.

Colin also had at least 15 fractured ribs and a fractured right clavicle. Officials also found a ligament injury on his spine that appeared to have been healing, the report states.

“The injuries seen in this case involving multiple areas of the body in varying stages of healing are consistent with repeated non-accidental trauma and a diagnosis of battered-child syndrome,” Eutenier stated in the report’s summary.

Russell fled the charges until his August 2014 arrest in Dalton, Ga., on a fugitive-from-justice warrant. He was released from jail on a $100,000 bond in September.

Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.