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Show Mackays not guilty Judge David Mower turned to the last page of the jury's verdict and read, "On the charges of child abuse and negligent homicide, the jury finds Blaine and Mary Mackay innocent of both charges," then added his own comment, "and rightly so!' The two and a half -hour deliberation by the jury thus ended one of San Pete County's most publicized and emotional trials. It began on July 17, 1989 when the ambulance was called to the home of Blaine and Mary Mackay of Fairview. They found a foster child of the Mackays, six-year-old Eric Aragon on the kitchen floor, and began resuscitation efforts, which proved futile. Eric was transported to Sanpete Valley Hospital, where monitors showed a "flat line" on his heart monitor, and defibrillated him. He was soon afterward pronounced pro-nounced dead. The explanation given by the Mackays was that a couple of days before, Blaine and the boys had been playing soccer and Blaine had fallen on Eric. Eric complained of cramps and stomach pain, and vomited over the next couple of days, but this was attributed to "flu," which was going around. The Mackays said they had no idea Eric had been internally damaged until a couple of days later when he worsened quickly and the ambulance was called. The autopsy showed that Eric's stomach had been separated, and internal injuries led to his death. The Manti Messenger |
