Davenport Man Pleads Guilty in Death of Baby
Bryan Michael Fix (Courtesy: QCTimes.com)
By
Aaron Hepker
Story Created:
Aug 4, 2010 at 7:45 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Aug 4, 2010 at 7:45 PM CDT
DAVENPORT, Iowa - A Davenport man admitted Wednesday afternoon to battering to death a 2-month-old baby last year.
Bryan Michael Fix, 25, faces 65 years in prison on charges he caused the Nov. 27, 2009, death of Chase Kloppenborg.
The infant’s mother, Stephanie Kloppenborg, declined to comment as she left the change of plea hearing at the Scott County Courthouse, surrounded by family.
Fix pleaded guilty to child endangerment resulting in death, child endangerment resulting in serious injury and involuntary manslaughter. He was scheduled to go to trial Monday on a first-degree murder charge before changing his plea.
His mother called the case “one-sided” as she stormed out of the hearing.
“They haven’t investigated half the things we told them,” Michelle Fix said. “It’s my son’s life here.”
She added, “I know there’s a baby who didn’t deserve any of this. But there’s somebody else out there.”
Fix, who isn’t the boy’s father but was Stephanie Kloppenborg’s long-time boyfriend, was baby-sitting the infant while Kloppenborg was at work Nov. 19. She returned home to find the boy in a listless and lethargic condition.
The baby was taken to his doctor and then to the emergency room at Genesis Medical Center, East Rusholme Street, before being flown to University Hospitals in Iowa City. Chase Kloppenborg underwent emergency surgery to relieve pressure on the brain, but died nine days later.
The infant received major head trauma and rib fractures while Fix was caring for him, according to the arrest affidavit. An autopsy showed Chase had eight rib fractures.
Police allege physical abuse possibly started shortly after Chase was born. Fix had control of the child on several occasions while Kloppenborg worked, police said.
Scott County Attorney Mike Walton said the charges to which Fix pleaded guilty relate only to the Nov. 19 incident and not to anything that may have occurred before that.
“We felt this was a just outcome,” Walton said.
“They’re difficult cases,” he added about cases involving infant deaths.
Fix’s attorney, Phil Ramirez, declined to comment.
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