What to Know
Courtney Dawn Laird was performing CPR on her 7-month-old daughter, Celia Aurora Colby, when police arrived at her Utah home on January 17, 2025. Laird told officers the baby’s father, Neal English Colby, 42, allegedly refused to call 911 after finding their daughter stiff on his bed.
Emergency crews rushed Celia to a nearby hospital where doctors pronounced her deceased. An investigation determined Colby left the infant alone for nearly an hour in a filthy and dangerous basement before her death. He now faces charges.
Laird allegedly left Colby to care for Celia so she could sleep.
According to court documents obtained by KSL, when investigators arrived on the scene, Laird said she and her older son were sick with the flu, and she left Colby in charge of their daughter. She’d given Celia children’s Tylenol and made an appointment for her to see the pediatrician later that day.
“She awoke this morning to Colby yelling for her. (She) stated she went downstairs and found (Celia) lying face up on Colby’s bed….and that (Celia) had red fluid coming out of her. (She) stated she immediately began performing CPR and had to call 911 at the same time because Colby would not call,” according to a police report.
Colby apparently showed little remorse.
Police stated the father led them to a filthy basement filled with trash. Officers “located reddish-colored fluid on a dark colored blanket on the mattress downstairs, along with bottles of urine near the bed,” the report noted.
When speaking with Colby, he allegedly vaped and had no reaction to what was happening to his daughter.
“Body cam footage from responding officers shows that (Colby) shows no remorse and is vaping when officers are not looking at him. When officers make direct eye contact and speak with (him), he immediately begins wailing and howling, stating he doesn’t know what happened,” according to court documents.
According to Colby’s cellphone data, he allegedly left the home around 3:21 a.m. and was gone for close to an hour.
“The location report shows that Colby left (Celia) alone without supervision and left the residence for 43 minutes. GPS tracking shows that the area Colby’s phone remained in a known drug area for Murray police,” per the police report.
The baby’s cause of death remains undetermined.
The Utah State Medical Examiner’s Office found Celia had “abrasions along her nasal alae, right cheek, and round her chin” per a report. Though the medical examiner did not know what caused the abrasions, the report noted, “they do present the possibility of airway obstruction by external forces. The manner of death was certified as could not be determined.”
A child abuse pediatrician reportedly reviewed the autopsy report, and one part particularly concerned them.
The abrasions to her nostrils are highly concerning to me. This pattern of injury can be seen when a caregiver pinches the nose shut, causing injury to the skin. An asphyxia death may not be identifiable at autopsy. It cannot be ruled out that her airway was manually obstructed by an adult,” the doctor stated.
Colby faces charges of child abuse homicide and child endangerment.
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