Carson City man gets life in prison in March 2017 death of toddler
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Thu, 02/15/2018 - 2:21pm
Eric Anthony Buhl was sentenced Thursday to life in prison for the March 2017 murder of a 2-year-old girl left in his care at a north Carson City home.
Buhl pled guilty Sept. 26 in Carson City District Court of first degree murder and had been facing life in prison. The plea took the death penalty off the table. He will be eligible for parole in 20 years.
On March 17, 2017 Carson City sheriff's deputies responded to a report of an unresponsive toddler at a residence in the 100 block of Manzanita Terrace.
When emergency personnel arrived on scene, they found Buhl, who was described as a caretaker, administering CPR on the two-year-old victim Coahuyana "Chloe" Hernandez, who was taken to a local hospital and died of injuries. During the Sept. 26 hearing Buhl said the child died from injuries from CPR he was giving.
The toddler died of internal injuries from being beaten, according to the medical examiner.
During the March 17 investigation, deputies found a live pipe bomb inside Buhl's bedroom.
In May the Carson City District Attorney’s Office filed an Amended Criminal Complaint against Buhl, charging Count I, Open Murder (“A” Felony); Count II, Child Abuse Causing Substantial Bodily Harm (“B” Felony); Count III, Possession of an Explosive or Incendiary Device in or Near Certain Public or Private Places (“D” Felony); and, Count IV, Child Endangerment (Gross Misdemeanor).
The amended criminal complaint was filed after the results of the autopsy were completed and the medical examiner had determined the cause of Coahuyana Hernandez’s death was homicide.
At sentencing, the prosecution presented two witnesses, said Assistant District Attorney Kristin N. Luis. First, CCSO Detective Salvador Acosta created a power point presentation setting forth a timeline of events and four varying accounts by the defendant of how the victim sustained her injuries. The presentation included the initial 911 call, portions of interviews conducted with the defendant and phone calls made by the defendant to family members.
Second, Katherine Callahan, the medical examiner who conducted the autopsy testified to the nature of victim's injuries which were the result of blunt force trauma. Specifically, the victim suffered a broken rib, lacerations to her heart, lacerations to her liver, a laceration to her pancreas and the right adrenal gland was transected.
Due to the amount of blood found near the organs in the victim’s body, she testified that the injuries were inflicted while the victim was alive and not post-mortem. Dr. Callahan explained that she generally sees these types of injuries result from a car accident and that such injuries would require multiple blows to the body.
Both the prosecution and defense presented their sentencing arguments. Defense asked for Buhl to be sentenced to a fixed term of 50 years with parole eligibility after a minimum of 20 years. The State asked the court to sentence the defendant to life allowing the possibility of parole after a minimum of 20 years had been served.
The court sentence Buhl to life with the possibility of parole after a minimum of 20 years.
The court noted the defendant Buhl took the life of a 2-year-old child and that it could impose a sentence of life without the possibility of parole, but because of the defendant’s lack of criminal history, the circumstances surrounding the crime and the recommendations made by the State and the Department of Parole and Probation, the court elected to impose a sentence of life with the possibility of parole after a minimum of 20 years.
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