BAY CITY, MI -- A Bay County father is charged with killing his infant son nearly two years ago.

Zachary M. Touchtone, 22, was arraigned on Monday, Aug. 18, before Saginaw County District Court Judge Dawn Kilda on one count of first degree child abuse.

About 3:45 p.m. on Dec. 20, 2023, paramedics and firefighters responded to a residence in the 800 block of East Erickson Road in Pinconning when a mother called 911 to report her 5-month-old son wasn't breathing.

She was at work at the time and said Touchtone, her live-in boyfriend and the boy's father, had contacted her about the emergency.

The baby, Jack M. Bills, was taken to Ascension Hospital in Standish where staff pronounced him deceased at 4:50 p.m., according to police reports obtained by MLive.

Bay County Sheriff's deputies began an investigation that evening, interviewing the first responders who went to the house and hospital staff.

The first Pinconning firefighter to arrive told deputies he encountered Jack in his father's arms.

Touchtone handed the unresponsive child to the firefighter, saying, "I don't know what to do," the firefighter told deputies.

Touchtone appeared to be in emotional shock, firefighters said. Touchtone told them he was feeding Jack with a bottle and "propped him up" in a swing in the living room before doing work around the house, reports state.

Touchtone told a nurse he returned to the living room and saw Jack was aspirating, so he grabbed him, flipped him over, and tried clearing the blockage, reports state. Touchtone began CPR and called Jack's mother, who in turn called 911.

Jack showed no signs of life when EMS arrived. Still, they took over CPR, intubated Jack at the scene, and gave him two shots of epinephrine. Jack regained some cardiac rhythm but only briefly, reports state.

Hospital staff gave Jack five more shots of epinephrine, administered every three minutes, to no avail, reports state.

Jack's mother, age 30, told a nurse Jack had a history of BRUE syndrome, or Brief Resolved Unexplained Event, wherein an infant stops breathing for 30 to 60 seconds for no apparent reason.

Deputies went to the hospital's parking lot, where they encountered Touchtone working under the hood of his car. Jack's mother was seated in the car, saying she couldn't go back into the hospital to see her son in such a state. She was so overcome that she vomited at one point, reports state.

"Zachary's demeanor at this time seemed very abnormal as he was working on his vehicle in the parking lot, was extremely calm and didn't appear to be upset," deputies wrote in their reports. "You would not have known his son had just passed away based on how he was presenting himself."

Touchtone told deputies he held Jack as he fed him formula from a bottle. He then placed Jack in a swing, propped the bottle up so he could feed himself, and went to another room to clean. After about five minutes, Touchtone returned to the living room and saw Jack slouched in his swing, not moving with his eyes closed, reports state.

Touchtone picked up his son and tried getting a response from him, he told deputies. He put his ear to his son's chest and heard a heartbeat, he said. He then started hitting Jack on his back and apparent snot and milk drained from his nose, but otherwise nothing happened, he said.

Touchtone called Jack's mother and told her to call 911, then tried performing CPR on his son, he said.

Jack's mother verified much of Touchtone's account, adding her son had previously been in an intensive care unit for a month due to his breathing problems. Jack, born prematurely, also suffered from acid reflux and was prescribed a special formula, she said.

She described Touchtone as Jack's primary caregiver and a good parent. Both parents mentioned Jack had BRUE syndrome.

An autopsy was conducted on Jack's remains, during which it was discovered he had suffered a brain bleed within his final two to 48 hours, reports state. The forensic pathologist who performed the examination ruled Jack's cause of death was blunt-force trauma to his head, his manner of death as homicide.

Deputies met with Jack's parents again on Dec. 27, 2023, to discuss the autopsy findings. Touchtone denied doing anything to his son that would have caused the trauma. He agreed to take a polygraph examination that day and answered no when asked if he caused his son's fatal injury, reports state.

The polygraph examiner told investigators he didn't think Touchtone was being truthful in his denials.

In a post-polygraph interview, Touchtone said he was not happy when he learned his girlfriend was pregnant with Jack as he wasn't ready to have children. He also related an incident a few months prior when he accidentally knocked Jack off a bed, causing the baby to land on his face. Touchtone only told Jack's mother of this when she arrived home from work, he said.

Touchtone told deputies he once got upset at Jack and yelled at him to shut up, something he regretted.

Pressed to go into detail on what happened the day of Jack's death, Touchtone said his son started to fuss early that morning. Touchtone was tired and needed sleep, so he got up and "stuck him in the swing," dropping him about a foot, he said.

Deputies asked him to elaborate.

"Zach said he must have 'tossed him a little harder' into the swing because this is when his crying got bad," deputies wrote. "Zach even mentioned how he heard a thud when Jack hit the swing and it 'sounded rough.'"

Jack fell asleep after this, Touchtone said. He added he had previously placed Jack in his swing when he was fussy and he often landed hard. Touchtone said he didn't do this intentionally.

Near the interview's end, Touchtone commented that "something so simple as him being exhausted killed his son." Deputies again asked him if he caused his son's fatal injury and he replied in the affirmative, reports state.

"Zach told (the detective) that no one cares about what he is going through," deputies wrote. "He just wanted some peace and wanted Jack to sleep."

A warrant for Touchtone's arrest was issued on Friday, Aug. 15. Deputies arrested him the same day.

Prosecutors didn't issue charges against Touchtone until last week.

At his arraignment, Judge Kilda set bond at $250,000, which can be posted as cash or surety. Touchtone is to appear before Bay County District Court Judge Mark Janer for a preliminary examination on Sept. 2.

A settlement conference for Touchtone is scheduled for Aug. 29 in front of Judge Janer.