Eric Shannon Johnson was charged with one count of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death. Johnson pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said in the courtroom baby Shannon Johnson suffered 3rd-degree burns in late August and had a gash to his head. They said the baby was in dire need of medical attention, and Johnson failed to get the baby help, fearing the Department of Children and Family Services would get involved and blame him for the injuries.
"Extreme lack of judgment, to the point of criminal negligence, that Mr. Johnson was willing to not seek medical treatment for a two-week period for his 3-month-old son who was suffering from very gruesome looking, as well as severe burns, to a very sensitive portion of the body," a prosecutor told the judge at court. "Suffered a subdural hematoma given through the 4-inch fracture to the skull with a midline shift in his brain."
The 3-month-old died in the family's Porter Ranch home in September.
The baby's mother Jalyn Simone Smith Jermott is charged with murder in the death of her baby. She is expected in court on Tuesday.
Eric Johnson's family said he only found out about the baby's severe injuries when he got home from work.
"He got charged with a certain thing and he wasn't even there," Johnson's sister Kierra Thomas said. "When he first came out, you could see his face - he was ready to cry. But once the D.A. was explaining the same burn over and over, my brother wasn't even there. He was never there each time my nephew got hurt."
The judge waved a $75,000 bail requested by the prosecution in Johnson's case and let him out on the condition he wear a GPS ankle monitor and return for his next court hearing on Oct. 15.