Boy was slain, court told

North Las Vegas police knew something was suspicious when they interviewed Trevor Carter about the death of his girlfriend's 4-year-old son in December.

Carter told police that the boy, Trenton Quick, was killed in a car crash. He said he had been driving a Dodge Neon in a desert area near the Las Vegas Beltway and Losee Road when he lost control of the car.

But police said the evidence didn't add up. Authorities accused Carter, 21, of killing Trenton and covering up the slaying by staging the car accident.

On Friday in North Las Vegas Justice Court, Justice of the Peace Natalie Tyrrell heard evidence from police and a medical examiner that Trenton didn't die in a car accident but was slain.

Gary Telgenhoff, a medical examiner with the Clark County Coroner's office, testified that Trenton had more than 35 injuries to his body, including some bruises that appeared to predate his Dec. 18 death.

He said that Trenton was killed by blunt force trauma to the abdomen and that it could have been caused by a fist or a small object such as a bicycle handle, pipe or handle of a hammer.

Telgenhoff said Trenton's injuries were probably caused by abuse.

North Las Vegas police officer Ty Toler, who spoke with Carter at the scene of the accident Dec. 18, said Carter told him some things that seemed suspicious.

Carter told the officer that he was off-roading in the car and crashed it but waited an hour before calling 911. Carter changed his story quickly and said he might have waited half an hour before calling for help, Toler said.

Trenton's 3-year-old sister also was in the car, but she didn't appear to be harmed or even shaken up, Toler said.

Another officer who investigated the car accident, Jim Byrne, testified that it looked like a "manufactured event." He said there wasn't any evidence, such as swerve marks, that Carter lost control of the Dodge.

But the strongest testimony came from officer Jacqueline Gravatt, who spoke with Carter's girlfriend, 24-year-old Amber Scott. She is the mother of Trenton.

Gravatt drove Scott to the hospital on the day Trenton was killed. She said Scott, who was crying and shaking, asked, "Did he (Carter) kill my baby?"

Scott also told Gravatt that her father once warned her that one of her children would die if she continued seeing Carter, Gravatt said.

Scott, who is out of custody on $40,000 bail, faces two counts of child neglect and one count of child abuse and neglect.

Carter is behind bars.

Tyrrell continued the hearing until April 29.

Contact reporter David Kihara at dkihara@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039.