Overview
- Micah Smith faces three counts of child torture and three counts of aggravated child abuse and is being held without bail following a formal indictment.
- Investigators say an Oct. 11 trek on the Broads Fork/Twin Peaks route ended with a rescue the next day, with two children in critical condition and one stable.
- The 4-year-old arrived at the hospital with a core temperature of 62.6°F after about 25 minutes of CPR, later suffered a stroke, and required part of his skull to be removed.
- Charging documents cite texts and videos in which a child asks, “Are we going to freeze to death, Daddy?” as well as messages showing Smith pressed toward the summit despite warnings from the children’s mother.
- Search-and-rescue reports describe Smith as behaving oddly and seemingly unconcerned, with prosecutors also noting a prior police contact for suicidal ideation and a Nov. 10 hospital incident involving alleged interference with his son’s care.