A Lincoln pair accused of felony child abuse in the March death of a 22-month-old boy have pleaded not guilty.Â
Joshua Tackett, 32, entered the plea at a hearing Wednesday morning.Â
The child's mother, 30-year-old Brittany Cook, did the same in writing, waiving her court appearance.Â
Neither have trial dates yet.
In court records, Lincoln police allege Cook repeatedly ignored signs of abuse on Rudy Requejo-Ybarra Jr.'s body up to March 12, the day she finally took him to a hospital, and that Tackett, Cook's boyfriend of two months, abused the boy physically, leaving him brain-dead.
The 22-month-old had bruises all over his body, as well as "pattern injuries" on his face and chest, which investigators later matched to the grill of a space heater that Cook had left running next to her son when she took a shower March 11, police said.
Rudy died March 17 at Children's Hospital in Omaha.
In court records, investigators said Cook told them she had noticed numerous bruises and injuries on his body since she began dating Tackett in January.
Prosecutors charged Tackett and Cook both with child abuse resulting in death, a felony punishable by 20 years to life in prison if convicted.
Tackett also faces two unrelated felony gun charges.