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Mom's Fiance Arrested in Baby's Death in July

By Brent Whiting, The Arizona Republic

Peoria police have arrested a 22-year-old man in the July 11 death of an 18-month-old, the victim of what investigators called a fatal shaking.

Craig John Rettig, a Peoria resident, was taken into custody Sept. 8 and booked into a Maricopa County jail on charges of second-degree murder and child abuse.

Police said Rettig was alone with Cameron Whetstone, his fiancee's son, when he called 911 on July 10 to report that the child had stopped breathing.

The toddler was taken to a Phoenix hospital, where he died the next day, said Jay Davies, a police spokesman.

The Maricopa Medical Examiner's Office determined that the boy had suffered multiple blunt-force trauma to the head consistent with "shaken baby syndrome," Davies said.

William Foreman, a Phoenix defense lawyer for Rettig, said there was no wrongdoing.

"We are disappointed that charges were filed because we believe that when all the facts are fully explored, it will show Mr. Rettig did not cause Cameron Whetstone's death," Foreman said in a prepared statement.

Original publication date: September 17, 2004
Copyright 2004 The Arizona Republic. All Rights Reserved.