REMEMBERING LOGAN

Logan Bruce Borchik was a fifteen month old little boy whose life had only just begun. Photographs of Logan show a bright eyed toddler with a sweet smile. At fifteen months, he should have been spending his days exploring, learning new words, becoming steadier on his feet and discovering more of the world around him. Instead, Logan suffered devastating injuries inside the home where he should have been safest. His life lasted only sixteen months, but Logan was here, he mattered, and he deserves to be remembered as the little boy he was rather than only for the circumstances of his death.

LOGAN’S STORY

On May 3, 2014, fifteen month old Logan was at his home in Idaho Springs, Colorado, with his mother, Haley Stanfield, and her boyfriend, Joshua Olsen. According to the grand jury indictment later filed in the case, Haley shook Logan while Joshua watched. Logan showed obvious signs of serious medical distress afterward. He was not moving around normally. He was not eating. Yet for approximately three days, Logan was not taken for the emergency medical care he desperately needed. On May 6, while Logan was in Joshua’s care and Haley was at work, Logan stopped breathing. A 911 call was made reporting that Logan was choking. When emergency responders arrived, however, they found injuries on Logan that were not consistent with choking or with efforts to save his life. CPR was performed. Logan was airlifted to Children’s Hospital Colorado, where doctors placed him on life support. His injuries were catastrophic. Logan remained hospitalized for a week. On May 13, 2014, he was removed from life support and died. He was fifteen months old. The investigation into Logan’s death continued for months. In February 2015, a Clear Creek County grand jury indicted both Haley and Joshua on charges of child abuse resulting in death. Prosecutors alleged that Haley had shaken Logan and that both adults then failed to obtain medical care for him despite witnessing his obvious distress during the following three days.

SYSTEM FAILURES & WARNING SIGNS

Logan’s family had reportedly come into contact with the Department of Health and Human Services before his death. When police first began investigating Logan’s injuries in May 2014, authorities acknowledged that human services had previously been involved with the family. The publicly available records I found do not establish enough detail about those earlier contacts to responsibly claim that child welfare workers knew Logan was being severely abused or that they had information that clearly predicted his death. The most immediate and devastating warning signs occurred after Logan was injured. According to prosecutors, his condition visibly deteriorated over approximately three days. He was not moving normally and was not eating, yet neither adult responsible for him sought medical treatment during that period. Those were signs of a medical emergency that required immediate care. Help was finally summoned only after Logan stopped breathing. By then, his injuries were catastrophic.

JUSTICE FOR LOGAN

For months after Logan’s death, the investigation remained open. In February 2015, a grand jury indicted Haley Stanfield and Joshua Olsen for child abuse resulting in death. Prosecutors alleged that Haley inflicted Logan’s initial injuries by shaking him while Joshua was present and that both adults subsequently failed to obtain medical care for him. Haley eventually admitted criminal responsibility for Logan’s death. She pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death. On November 2, 2015, she was sentenced to twelve years in the Colorado Department of Corrections, followed by five years of mandatory parole.

 

Haley Stanfield

Relationship to Logan: Mother

Conviction(s): Child abuse resulting in death

Sentence: 12 years in prison, followed by 5 years of mandatory parole

 

Joshua Olsen

Relationship to Logan: Mother’s Boyfriend

Charge(s): Child abuse resulting in death

Final disposition: Not sufficiently verified

FOREVER REMEMBERED

Logan should have had years ahead of him. At fifteen months old, his world should have been filled with ordinary childhood moments: new words, new discoveries, scraped knees, laughter, birthdays and the security of knowing that the adults around him would protect him when he was hurt. When Logan became critically injured, he could not tell anyone what had happened. He could not take himself to a hospital. He depended entirely on the adults caring for him to recognize his suffering and get him help. For three days, that help did not come. Logan’s story deserves to be told truthfully, but the violence and neglect surrounding his death should never become the only thing attached to his name. He was a little boy before he was a criminal case. Abuse Angels remembers Logan Borchik. Remembered. Honored. Never Forgotten.