DENVER – Prosecutors have formally charged a 33-year-old man with murder and child abuse charges in the death of his girlfriend’s 3-year-old son.
John Affourtit, 33, was formally charged with one count of first-degree murder by a person in a position of trust and one count of child abuse resulting in death. Denver District Attorney direct-filed the charges against Affourtit on Monday.
The affidavit in the case is currently sealed by a judge's order, but McCann’s office said that Affourtit allegedly physically abuse 3-year-old Jeromiah Gurule to death on Sept. 25. Affourtit was arrested Sept. 27.
Police and paramedics were called to the apartment Affourtit shared with his girlfriend in the 900 block of S. Dahlia Street on Sept. 25 and found Gurule wasn’t breathing. They were unable to revive the boy.
Denver District Attorney’s Office spokesman Ken Lane said the Denver Medical Examiner’s Office found that the boy died as a result of physical abuse.
Affourtit is scheduled to be advised of the charges against him at a hearing Thursday afternoon.