A former Sumner County Sheriff's deputy will face a jury charged in the death of his 19-month-old son. Tuesday morning, a judge said there was enough evidence to send Steven Rupert, Jr., to trial.
Prosecutors say Rupert left his son, 19-month-old Lucas Cole, alone in a chair just a few feet away from a private pool. Rupert made a couple of runs to his car when the boy wandered into the pool and drowned.
Branden Stitt, a former co-worker of Rupert's, testified he was on the phone with Rupert when the man noticed his son had left the chair.
"Then, there was a quick, 'Oh my gosh!' said Stitt, "and the phone hung up."
"As he was walking closer to the pool, he noticed a foot or a leg in the pool," testified Jeff Newsum, an agent with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. "As he got closer to the pool, he saw Lucas floating face up."
Rupert is charged with involuntary manslaughter and a count of aggravated child endangerment. The judge said the two charges could be overlapping, and one of the charges may have to be dropped in the future. A third charge of a computer crime was dropped Tuesday morning.
Rupert will be back in court next week to enter a plea.
