A Mountain View couple has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the Nov. 19 death of 4-year-old Skylar Shellstrom.
Skylar's mother, Victoria A. Dycus, 29, and her boyfriend, James Hagen Glenn, 31, were formally charged Wednesday in Stone County Circuit Court.
The couple called Stone County 911 on Nov. 19 saying Skylar wasn't breathing, according to a probable-cause affidavit filed Wednesday.
Skylar was transported to Stone County Medical Center in Mountain View, where she was pronounced dead at 6:39 p.m. that day.
"The attending physician believed the death was a possible homicide," so the body was sent to the state medical examiner's office, according to the affidavit from Special Agent Dennis Simons of the Arkansas State Police.
On the basis of an autopsy and information provided by police, the pathologist wrote that "it is our opinion that Skylar Shellstrom died as a result of blunt force abdominal injuries which caused vital organ damage, bleeding and secondary infection," according to the affidavit.
The autopsy listed "as a contributory cause" abrasions and contusions in various stages of healing, according to the court filing.
Simons wrote that he observed bruises on the girl's body and burn patterns on her nose. Dycus told him Skylar had been hitting herself with her fist and that the burns were probably caused by a hair dryer accident while Glenn was blow-drying her hair, according to the affidavit.
Dycus said other bruises were probably caused by Skylar "falling in the bath," according to the affidavit. Dycus, who is a certified nursing assistant, told police that Skylar had started soiling herself, so Dycus would force her to take cold showers to teach her to stop, but the girl would fight back.
Glenn said Skylar had "intentionally pulled the hot blow dryer onto her nose," according to the affidavit. But the grill pattern of the hair dryer was inconsistent with the burn pattern on the child's nose, wrote Simons.
Dycus told Simons her daughter had been sick for several days before her death but that she didn't take her to the doctor. Neither did Glenn. The couple lived in the same house in Mountain View.
According to the affidavit, Glenn and Dycus told family and friends different stories regarding Skylar's bruises before her death, including stories about a trampoline accident and a pit bull's chain getting wrapped around the child. Dycus told her sister the bruises were caused by Skylar "throwing herself into a wall," according to the affidavit.
Jonathan Dycus of Colorado, the estranged husband of Victoria Dycus, told police he filed a police report after his wife cut him with a knife when they lived in Lonoke, according to the affidavit.
Victoria Dycus and Glenn were being held in the Stone County jail, each with bail set at $1 million. Glenn and Dycus are scheduled to appear in court on Jan. 12.
Metro on 12/22/2016