Detectives say the case against John Haney grew from a disputed emergency timeline into a homicide prosecution built on medical and digital evidence.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Investigators in Cheyenne say home surveillance data and autopsy findings helped them charge a 41-year-old man with first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend’s 10-month-old daughter.
The prosecution against John D. Haney rests less on a single witness than on what authorities say multiple records show about the child’s last known hours. Detectives have described a case built from 911 timing, responder observations, medical imaging, cloud-stored Ring footage and months of forensic review. That evidence, they say, turned a child death investigation opened in March 2025 into murder and aggravated child abuse charges filed one year later.
Haney’s own account formed the starting point. According to the affidavit described by local outlets, he told investigators the child had been fussy and waking off and on after he laid her down for a morning nap. He said he went to the bathroom, remained there for several minutes and then found the baby face-down in the crib and without a pulse. Haney reported starting CPR and then calling 911. He also texted the child’s mother to come home immediately. On its face, that account suggested a sudden crisis in a short span of time. But responders who reached the house said the physical condition of the child did not fit that narrow window, and detectives began testing each piece of Haney’s timeline against independent records.
One of the earliest problems for investigators was body temperature. Deputy Fire Chief Manny Muzquiz, identified in local reporting as the first medical responder on scene, told detectives the baby’s extremities felt cold even through his gloves. He suspected she had not been breathing for longer than Haney claimed. The child was taken to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. Medical imaging then widened the case. X-rays showed fractures in the left humerus and in bones in both legs, according to the affidavit, and doctors said the injuries were in different stages of healing. Those fractures did not become the listed cause of death, but investigators treated them as signs the child may have been harmed more than once. The girl’s mother told detectives she had noticed her daughter using her limbs less and had seen swelling in the legs and feet weeks earlier.
Digital evidence supplied a second track. Haney’s home had several Ring cameras, including devices in the living room, kitchen, downstairs area, master bedroom and outside, records said. Detectives obtained a warrant for cloud records from Amazon and found what they described as manipulation of video content on the morning of the death. Two clips were deleted at about 10:13 a.m., just over a minute before the first deputy arrived, according to the affidavit summarized by local media. Investigators also highlighted a motion-triggered recording at 9:40:34 a.m. that captured a sound believed to be the baby screaming. In another description of the footage, Haney was seen standing in a bathroom doorway before the video stopped, and there was no recording of him walking away. When questioned, Haney denied deliberately deleting the clips and later said he did not remember doing so. Detectives wrote that the process would have taken several deliberate actions inside the app.
The final medical ruling took longer. Local reporting said the autopsy findings were completed in December 2025 and listed asphyxiation as the cause of death and homicide as the manner of death. That conclusion appears to have been the point at which investigators could align the physical findings with their review of the house, the digital records and the child’s prior injuries. On March 20, 2026, the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office announced Haney’s arrest, saying only that the charges were tied to a death investigation that began the previous March. Three days later, a judge set Haney’s bond at $1 million cash after a brief initial appearance, higher than the amount requested by prosecutors.
The unanswered issues now sit where many early felony cases do: inside the gap between probable cause and proof at trial. Public records so far do not explain exactly how prosecutors believe the asphyxiation occurred, and authorities have not released the child’s full name. They have also not publicly detailed whether additional witnesses, expert testimony or phone data will be part of the case beyond what has already surfaced in local reporting. What is clear is the state’s outline: investigators say the emergency account was inconsistent, the child showed signs of prior injury, the camera system recorded a critical sound and relevant clips were deleted just before law enforcement arrived.
For now, Haney remained in custody on a $1 million cash bond, and the next stage is a preliminary hearing that will test whether the evidence is enough to send the case on for fuller prosecution.
Author note: Last updated April 17, 2026.