Infant passes away; father's charges upgraded to murder

A Milledgeville man was re-arrested on Tuesday afternoon and charged with felony murder.

All totaled, Richard Garrett Dotherow now faces one count each of felony murder, aggravated battery and first degree cruelty to children.

The District Attorney's Office's decision to re-arrest Dotherow came after his infant daughter passed away in recent days following a six-week stint in an intensive care unit at a hospital in Atlanta. Dotherow initially was locked up on Nov. 30 and charged with aggravated battery and cruelty to children. However, for reasons not immediately understood, a Superior Court Judge set a $50,000 bond, and Dotherow made bail. Then, earlier this afternoon, he was arrested once again without incident, in order to be formally charged with murder.

The incident occurred on Sunday, Nov. 7 in the 1200 block of Perry Drive, located off of South Elbert Street and a few blocks south of Underwood Road and Freedom Church.

"Aggravated battery" is a step up from "aggravated assault" and a more severe charge. Aggravated battery charges are brought forth when a victim "permanently loses something," whether a functional ability or body part. According to the Official Code of Georgia, aggravated battery is defined as:

...When he or she maliciously causes bodily harm to another by depriving him or her of a member of his or her body, by rendering a member of his or her body useless, or by seriously disfiguring his or her body or a member thereof.