WILKES-BARRE — Wilkes-Barre City police detectives arrested Quinton Reiley Yachera on allegations he caused the death of an 11-month-old boy in May.
Yachera, 26, admitted during an interview with detectives Thursday he intended to toss the toddler onto pillows but the boy struck his head against a wall inside his residence on South Empire Street on May 10, according to court records.
The boy was transported to Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, Plains Township, and flown to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville where he died during emergency surgery, court records say.
Yachera was arraigned by District Judge Rick Cronauer of Wilkes-Barre on charges of involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. He was released early Friday morning after posting $250,000 bail.
Yachera is not the biological father of the boy but dated the boy’s biological mother.
An autopsy revealed the boy died from blunt force trauma to his head.
According to the criminal complaint:
City police and emergency medical technicians responded to Yachera’s residence for an unresponsive boy just after 11 p.m. May 10.
The boy was taken to Geisinger Wyoming Valley but due to the extreme brain injuries, he was airlifted to Geisinger Medical in Danville where he died.
Yachera initially told officers at the scene the boy struck his head on a tricycle, and later claimed the boy struck his head on the tricycle and floor, the complaint says.
Detectives served a search warrant for the biological mother’s cellular phone and retrieved text messages with Yachera.
The mother sent three text messages to Yachera asking, “why?”
“Why what?” Yachera replied.
“How could you do this to him? Why me.!” the mother replied.
“I didn’t mean to (then three crying emojis),” responded Yachera, adding, “Im sorry (three crying emojis).”
“WDYM (What do you mean) you didn’t mean to? Don’t just not mean to kill somebody,” the mother replied.
Yachera responded, “….I didn’t….Im sorry….Im so (expletive) sorry…”
During the interview with detectives on Thursday, Yachera changed his story claiming the boy slid off a pillow and bumped his head on a wall.
When confronted with his different statements compared to the boy’s autopsy findings, Yachera claimed the boy struck his head off a bathroom floor and another claim the boy struck his head against a tub, the complaint says.
Yachera then admitted he tossed the boy intending to land on pillows but the boy struck his head against a wall behind the bed. Yachera further claimed, according to the complaint, he was upset and had a stressful day taking care of the boy and two girls that day.
