Alaska News

Medical examiner says blunt force trauma, burns led to death of North Pole 4-year-old

Alaska State Troopers arrested the father of a 4-year-old boy from North Pole Thursday after the State Medical Examiner's Office determined that "multiple blunt force trauma and thermal burns" led to the boy's death, according to an affidavit filed in court Friday.

Around 3 a.m. on May 5, a 911 caller reported an unresponsive 4-year-old at a North Pole home. Troopers and medics went to the home and found Christopher Sadowski Jr., the son of Christopher Sadowski Sr., with "significant bruising all over his body as well as serious burns about his face, neck and upper torso," said an affidavit signed by Troopers Sgt. Lee Bruce and filed in U.S. District Court in Fairbanks.

The boy was taken to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, Sadowski Sr. said he had "inadvertently burned" his son in the shower on May 3. He did not take his son to the hospital because he thought he could care for his son's injuries. He said his son had fallen and received the other injuries. He said his son "was very active and clumsy," the affidavit said.

Three months after the 911 call, the State Medical Examiner's Office ruled the boy's death a "homicide caused by multiple blunt force trauma and thermal burns," the affidavit said. A medical examiner "stated the injuries that caused Christopher's death could not have been caused in the manner described by Sadowski Sr.," according to the affidavit.

Troopers said they arrested 27-year-old Sadowski Sr. Thursday. At first, he waived his right to remain silent and answered questions, maintaining his previous account of what led to his son's injuries and subsequent death, the affidavit said.

"Sadowski Sr. later invoked his right to an attorney and the interview was stopped," the affidavit said.

Sadowski Sr. was arrested on a first-degree murder charge. He was in custody at the Fairbanks jail Friday afternoon.

Tegan Hanlon

Tegan Hanlon was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News between 2013 and 2019. She now reports for Alaska Public Media.

ADVERTISEMENT