Five years have passed since Snoqualmie police officers were dispatched to an infant CPR incident at Meadowbrook Urgent Care in North Bend on March 5, 2019.

Since then, Snoqualmie police detectives have slowly built a case against Brendan Bodey for the second-degree murder of the infant — referred to as J.C. in charging documents. Once J.C. was transferred to Seattle Children’s Hospital on March 5, the infant succumbed to brain bleeds from non-accidental trauma, often indicative of having been shaken, according to documents.

Bodey maintained throughout several interviews with Snoqualmie detectives that the child’s mother — Bodey’s girlfriend at the time — was in the next room of their North Bend home when J.C. began to choke. Bodey recalled performing CPR before picking up the child, who went limp in his arms, prompting the couple to drive the infant to urgent care, according to documents.

According to charging documents, Bodey told the detectives that “even though he was panicking, he never shook the baby or did anything that would hurt him.”

The autopsy of J.C. revealed that the infant had died from an inflicted injury of the head and neck. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.

The case remained open, with Bodey refusing a polygraph test, until Snoqualmie Police Chief Brian Lynch began reviewing the evidence soon after he assumed the role of captain in August 2022.

“These cases are very complex, and it takes time to work through the evidence,” said Lynch, praising the detectives for taking the case as far as they could at the time. “This particular case needed expert doctors that specialize in shaken baby incidents.”

Snoqualmie detectives, operating under a determination of probable cause certified by Lynch in March 2023, arrested Bodey on March 9, 2023.

“When we made that arrest, I thought he was going to stay in jail,” Lynch said.

However, the King County Prosecutor’s Office didn’t file charges against Bodey, citing a lack of evidence and the unlikelihood the case would stand up in court. Bodey was released and the department was asked to conduct additional interviews before filing again.

Lynch gathered more evidence, and flew to Kentucky to speak with the infant’s mother to better understand her side of the story.

“During that interview we were able to get her side of the event that took place in 2019, and the information she gave us further strengthened the probable cause in the case,” Lynch said. “It would take another year of work before the King County Prosecutor felt we had a solid enough case to file.”

A second warrant for Bodey’s arrest was issued by the King County Superior Court on March 6, 2024. Thirteen days later, on March 19, he was arrested outside of his Tacoma apartment.

According to charging documents, Bodey’s criminal history includes convictions for disorderly conduct, malicious mischief, minor in possession, reckless driving and juvenile adjudications.

If found guilty of second degree murder, a class A felony, Bodey could face a maximum sentence of life in prison, a $50,000 fine or both, according to Washington state law.

The state requested Bodey to have no contact with the family of J.C. or any minors. He remains in jail and is due in court for a pre-trial hearing on April 16 at the King County Courthouse.