By JAMES MITCHELL
Sunday Times Newspapers
TAYLOR — A would-be paramedic accused of torture and having abused his six-month-old son won’t challenge the charges that could send him to prison for life.
Nicholas Alan Spirdione, 23, pleaded no contest Sept. 22 to five felonies including torture, first degree child abuse and assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
Spirdione is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday by Wayne County Circuit Court Judge Gregory Bill on the felony counts.
Spirdione has been in custody since police responded in April to a house in the 6600 block of Pine Street that he shared with his girlfriend and then-six-month-old son, Jesse. According to police reports, the non-responsive baby “appeared to have been beaten,” and first responders transported the child to Detroit Children’s Hospital for treatment.
Jesse remained in critical condition for weeks after operations to relieve severe head trauma.
Spirdione — who had been in training to become a paramedic — was arraigned in 23rd District Court, where he made an emotional plea to the child’s mother.
“I did not mean to harm my son,” Spirdione said.
Spirdione was found competent to stand trial in July, and an October trial had been scheduled before last week’s plea acceptance.
(James Mitchell can be reached at [email protected].)