Overview

• Blair and Taylor Edwards pleaded guilty to first-degree child abuse in the June 2023 death of their two-day-old son, Hayden.
• The judge ordered 30 days in jail and five years of probation, with mandatory pediatric checkups, maintained health insurance, and reporting to a probation officer for any child illness or injury.
• The medical examiner determined Hayden died from hyperbilirubinemia progressing to bilirubin encephalopathy and testified that timely treatment very likely could have saved him.
• Detectives documented an olive oil anointing ritual and evasive responses from attendants affiliated with the Followers of Christ Church.
• Prosecutors highlighted that Oregon eliminated spiritual-healing defenses in 2011, enabling prosecutions in multiple child-death cases tied to the congregation.