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A Utah man has pleaded guilty after prosecutors say he violently injured his girlfriend’s young daughter during an episode triggered by frustration over potty training. The plea resolves the gravest charge against him while the child’s mother remains separately accused and has not yet entered a plea.
Case details and plea
Salt Lake County prosecutors charged 29-year-old Tyrel Belone with attempted aggravated murder, aggravated child abuse and child torture, according to the district attorney’s office. Under a plea agreement, Belone admitted guilt to the attempted aggravated murder count and the other charges were dropped.
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The alleged victim, identified in court papers by initials, was three years old at the time of the incident on June 28, 2025, in Sandy, Utah, a suburb south of Salt Lake City. Authorities say the child had soiled herself earlier that morning, and the confrontation escalated while the child’s mother was preparing to leave for work.
What prosecutors say happened
Declarations of probable cause filed in the case describe a series of violent actions by Belone. Police allege he picked the child up and threw her onto a mattress; her head struck a wall as she ricocheted off the bedding and then hit the wall again after being thrown face-up. Responding officers found the child unresponsive with a bluish-green tint to her skin, though she still had a pulse and was breathing.
Belone told investigators he had become increasingly frustrated with the child’s behavior, including recent regressions in potty training and episodes of biting and scratching. Court documents also quote a string of text messages prosecutors say Belone sent in the days before the assault, in which he threatened severe harm to the child.
- Location: Sandy, Utah
- Date of incident: June 28, 2025
- Victim: Three-year-old girl (initials C.W. in filings)
- Defendant: Tyrel Belone, 29 — pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated murder
- Co-defendant: Amber Leary, 30 — charged with the same felonies; no plea entered
- Occupations: Belone a nurse; Leary a certified nursing assistant
Leary, who prosecutors say had begun a new job and left Belone to care for the child in the early morning hours, returned to find her daughter unresponsive. A nurse practitioner — Belone’s mother, according to the filings — reportedly advised the pair to get medical care and warned that failure to do so could lead to criminal consequences.
Legal status and next steps
Belone is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 2, when the court will determine his punishment under state law. Prosecutors granted him the plea in exchange for dismissing the other counts, a common prosecutorial practice that narrows the issues for sentencing while securing a conviction on the most serious allegation.
Leary remains charged with the same trio of felonies and is expected to be transported from custody to speak at Belone’s sentencing hearing before facing her own proceedings. The current medical condition of the child has not been publicly confirmed in recent court filings.
This case highlights a rare intersection of domestic violence and the criminal justice process, with both defendants employed in healthcare roles and facing serious felony allegations. Prosecutors say the record includes contemporaneous messages and admissions that they relied upon when filing charges.
