Man arrested on murder charge for toddler’s death

A man has been arrested on second-degree murder charge for the death of toddler Rylee Castner.

Josh Burnett, who is Rylee’s mom’s ex-boyfriend, was arrested on the murder charge for Rylee’s death.

Cassie Castner, Rylee’s mom, said Burnett was watching Rylee on March 30 as she was cooking breakfast. A little while later, Cassie took Rylee to a barbecue and that’s when her family noticed blood coming from Rylee’s mouth and bruising on his cheeks.

“We took him to the barbecue and immediately went and talked to my mom and had her check him out. When we started seeing the bad signs and bruising we called 911,” Castner said.

Rylee was rushed to Sacred Heart where he died the next day.

Toddler death arrest

Rylee Castner’s grandfather confirmed Monday that his Burnett failed a lie detector test and told police that “it was an accident.”

At a media briefing following Burnett’s arrest Friday, Spokane Police Commander Brad Arleth lamented what they world may have lost in the toddler’s death.

“The real tragedy here is an 18-month-old that’s never going to get to grow up to go to kindergarten or anything, not going to be able to contribute to the success of Spokane. Did we lose a world famous architect or a doctor who cured cancer? We won’t know,” Arleth said.

Police also confirmed that since 2008 they have responded to the home 10 times for domestic violence arguments. The most recent call was a month ago.