Millcreek Woman, Fiancé Arrested, Accused of Abuse of 5-Year-Old Boy

MILLCREEK, Utah – A woman and her fiancé were arrested Friday and accused of child abuse after police said they took the woman’s unconscious 5-year-old son to the hospital with “numerous” injuries.

Jordan Kay Wills, 26, and John Michael Manning, 30, were both booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on suspicion of felony child abuse.

A jail booking statement said as of Thursday evening, the child was not responsive and “may be incompatible with life.” The child’s condition on Friday remained unclear.

“If the child were to die, those charges would potentially be changed to homicide,” Unified Police Sgt. Melody Gray said. “This is horrific. The reality is these are the most difficult cases an officer has to investigate or go on. These are difficult for all of us.”

According to the probable cause document, the child was unresponsive when the couple brought him to Primary Children’s Hospital.

“Injuries to the child are at this time not consistent with explanations provided to physicians and investigators,” the document stated. “The child’s injuries, according to a child abuse specialist, appear to have occurred over a period of time indicating more than one event. There is also concerns of malnourishment.”

The duplex the couple had been renting near 4000 S. and 1300 E. had crime scene tape around it and forensic investigators were still going over the property Friday evening.

Neighbors, even those who had regularly interacted with the couple, seemed stunned by the news of the arrests.

“I didn’t see anything that would show any evidence regarding child abuse at all,” said Michael Styles, who lives across the street.

The property’s landlords said they were in the process of evicting the woman and her fiancé, who had fallen behind on their payments.

“They hadn’t been paying a lot, and so it was a lot of late payments and partial payments and kind of avoiding us in general, actually,” said Morgan Sterner, whose father owns the duplex.

Sterner said the family had seen the boy playing outside over the summer, but she had not seen him in at least three weeks.

“He was really cute,” Sterner said. “It’s really hard to hear that he may not be here anymore.”

Sterner said her father believed the couple had been together for six to eight months, and had been planning a wedding, but those plans may have fallen through.

A registry found online listed a wedding date of Oct. 6.

A search of court records showed Manning had multiple convictions for theft, and the jail booking statement said he was on parole.

Wills was convicted in 2011 of felony tampering with a witness.

Wills and Manning were each being held Friday on $50,000 bail.

“It’s horrible and, honestly, I feel really bad as a neighbor I had no idea,” said Linsey Ybarra, who lives two doors down. “It kind of makes me want to get to know my neighbors more and maybe be a little more aware of what’s going on in my neighborhood.”