BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – A San Antonio man made an appearance in court on Monday in connection with two separate deadly child injury cases. One of those cases, which involved a 9-month-old child, happened earlier this year.
According to court records, Rick Artis, 31, is facing an injury to a child charge, a first-degree felony, after San Antonio police officers said the child was found unresponsive in their crib on Jan. 25 at an apartment complex in the 6100 block of Ingram Road near Northwest Loop 410.
In an arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT 12 News on Monday, Artis told SAPD that he woke up “around 10 a.m.” and was in the kitchen preparing baby formula for the child. When he went to the child’s crib, police said Artis saw that the baby was no longer breathing and then frantically told the child’s mother about the 9-month-old’s condition.
Investigators said the mother checked the baby and described the child as “cold and stiff.” A 911 call was immediately placed at 10:30 a.m.
Officers were dispatched to the complex at 10:43 a.m. According to the SAPD detective who wrote the affidavit, emergency personnel arrived at the scene before officers did. The child was pronounced dead at 10:44 a.m.
Initially, an on-scene investigator from the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office said there weren’t any “visible injuries or signs of foul play” on the child. Two days later, the office said an autopsy showed that the 9-month-old suffered “significant skull fracture” likely caused by “blunt force trauma.”
When Artis first spoke to police on Jan. 25, the detective wrote that he identified himself as “Eric Artis.” However, after Artis and the child’s mother went to police headquarters on Jan. 29, the detective learned that Artis provided a false first name to investigators on scene.
Upon learning his correct first name, the detective found that Artis had a warrant out for his arrest regarding a separate injury to a child case that originated in October 2018.
Artis’ 2018 child injury case
KSAT covered Artis’ 2018 case when he was officially indicted on Feb. 24, 2020, just two days after 17-month-old Lyriq Ogilvie Artis was pronounced dead.
Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a home in the 6700 block of Brothers Lane in northeast Bexar County after they received a report of a 17-month-old who was not breathing, according to preliminary information provided at the time.
According to his 2020 indictment, Artis is accused of striking Lyriq. The indictment also accused him of causing injuries to the baby by not properly restraining Lyriq in his car and failing to seek medical care for the baby’s injuries. The medical examiner’s office ruled Lyriq’s death as a homicide.
In July 2023, Artis was set to go to trial in connection with injuring Lyriq. Moments before jury selection began, Artis’ case was dismissed due to a missing witness.
In another development, Artis’ case was later reopened months after it was dismissed.
KSAT has since reached out to the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office to find out why Artis was arrested nearly two years after Lyriq’s case was revived.
What the child’s mother told investigators on scene
The 9-month-old’s mother told police on Jan. 25 that she went out with a friend the night before. Investigators said the woman put Artis, her boyfriend, in charge of babysitting three of her four children — a 6-year-old girl, a 2-year-old boy and the victim.
The mother told investigators that she arrived home at approximately midnight. Her 6-year-old and 2-year-old were asleep, but the 9-month-old stood up in their crib when the mother arrived, the affidavit stated.
According to the woman, the 9-month-old appeared “fine.” She then left the child with Artis and went to take a shower. After the woman finished showering, she told police that the 9-month-old appeared to be asleep in the crib while Artis was cleaning in the kitchen.
Artis and the woman fell asleep at approximately 3 a.m., according to the arrest warrant. She said Artis woke her up “sometime after 10 a.m.” and told her about the 9-month-old not breathing, the affidavit stated.
Artis’ text messages, video reveal expanded timeline
When Artis was confronted at SAPD headquarters on Jan. 29, four days after allegedly giving officers a fake name, he said he wouldn’t “provide a statement without an attorney present,” the detective wrote in the affidavit.
The detective then informed Artis about the arrest warrant regarding the October 2018 injury to a child case and took him into custody. He was booked into the Bexar County Adult Detention Center on Jan. 29, jail records show.
On Jan. 30, the child’s mother told police that she received a phone call from a paralegal who worked for Artis’ former attorney. According to the mother, Artis asked the paralegal “for help.”
He called the paralegal multiple times and sent texts to them regarding the 9-month-old’s death as early as “9:26 a.m.” on Jan. 25, the affidavit stated.
The detective wrote that they found more of Artis’ texts discussing the 9-month-old’s death with a friend before the 911 call was placed at 10:30 a.m.
SAPD also said that investigators obtained video from a neighbor’s Ring camera. According to the neighbor’s Ring camera video, police said Artis was seen “using his cellphone” outside his apartment at 9:33 a.m.
A Bexar County judge set Artis’ bond at $1 million, court records indicate.
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