A preliminary hearing is scheduled next week for Billy Joe Springfield, the biological father of a Ramona boy who investigators say suffered serious brain injuries as an infant and died as a blind and bedridden 6-year-old in 2011. Springfield is charged with murder.
Also read: Authorities Release Name of Ramona Boy Who Died in His Sleep, Plus His Father's Identity
An autopsy determined that the boy—Samuel Dahlke—had succumbed to effects of a head injury suffered when he was about 6 weeks old.
Springfield was convicted in 2006 of abusing the boy in 2005 at an apartment in San Diego. Springfield, who was 23 at the time, was sentenced to four years probation, according to a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office.
The preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8:15 a.m., Friday, Feb. 28 in the San Diego County Courthouse.
—City News Service contributed to this report.
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