Day 4 of a preliminary hearing continues Wednesday in Solano County Superior Court in the case of a 27-year-old Rio Vista man accused of the January 2021 serious injury of his infant son resulting in death.
Judge John B. Ellis on March 3 dismissed an earlier case against Tre Kenneth Clay, who was charged with the killing of his 2-month-old son, and two days later the Solano County District Attorney’s Office refiled it and the new case it is being heard in Department 23.
Since May 5, Clay’s defense attorney, Jeannette Garcia, a former deputy public defender, filed several motions in the new case, among them excluding lab results and some expert testimony, and suppression of alleged statements by the defendant.
On Tuesday, a medical expert, via a Zoom appearance, testified that shaking can lead to the death of a baby, adding, “There’s no accidental shaking.”
The hearing continues at 8:30 a.m. in the Justice Building in Vallejo.
Court records indicate that Clay was to face a jury trial earlier this month, when Deputy District Attorney Elaine Kuo made a motion to continue.
But Garcia objected, and Ellis did “not find good cause,” court records indicated, and he denied Kuo’s motion. He then vacated the jury trial, ordering Clay released, pending any holds, after the defendant spent more than four years in county custody. However, with the re-filed charge, he remains without bail in the Stanton Correctional Facility in Fairfield.
Clay entered a not-guilty plea to the new felony charge, court records show. A murder charge against him had been dropped.
As previously reported, court records show that Clay was taken into custody by Solano County Sheriff investigators without incident on Jan. 23, 2021, at his Fourth Street apartment. The Solano County District Attorney’s Office filed its original complaint on Jan. 26, and he faced jail arraignment three days later.
He was suspected of severely injuring the infant, who later died at an East Bay hospital. Clay was booked into Solano County Jail on a Ramey warrant, an arrest order issued by a judge before the prosecutor has filed formal charges.
According to a press release issued at the time by the Rio Vista Police Department, officers received a call during the evening of Jan. 18 about an infant with “suspicious injuries” who had been taken to Kaiser Permanente Antioch Medical Center.
Rio Vista officers began an investigation and immediately requested the help of Solano County Sheriff’s detectives.
Shortly after arriving at Kaiser Antioch, the infant was taken by ambulance to UCSF Oakland Children’s Hospital. Sheriff’s detectives responded to both hospitals and were told the infant had died from his injuries.
The detectives continued their interviews and evidence collection at both hospitals. A search warrant was obtained for the Fourth Street apartment, where investigators believe the infant suffered life-ending injuries. The detectives and crime scene investigators processed the scene and collected evidence, according to the press statement.
During the following days, more interviews were conducted, camera footage reviewed, evidence processed, an autopsy performed and behavioral experts consulted, which led to the arrest warrant for Clay, according to police.