RHINELANDER, WI (WSAU-WAOW) – A doctor accused of playing a role in the death of his 20-month-old son entered ‘not guilty’ pleas to two felonies Tuesday after a judge refused to dismiss the charges..
Trung Tran, 41, is charged with child neglect resulting in death and child abuse in failing to prevent bodily harm. His son Avery died on in the April 14, 2017.
The boy died while his stepmother, Ellen Tran, watched him at their home in Rhinelander. She has plead ‘not guilty’ to first-degree reckless homicide. Her trial will begin October 19th.
Mrs. Tran, 29, told investigators the toddler fell down in a shower injuring his head. A doctor at the Child Abuse Center at the former St. Joseph’s Hospital in Marshfield notified police about possible child abuse because the “injuries did not match the information being provided by the mother,” the criminal complaint said.
Trung Tran told investigators he picked his son up from the child’s biological mother in Virginia April 1, 2017, for a visitation. He said the boy “had not been bonding well” with the stepmother.
According to court records, no further action in the case against Trung Tran, who now lives in North Carolina, will occur until after Ellen Tran’s trial.
