Law-enforcement officials continue to hunt for a Cortez man who pleaded guilty in the 2011 death of his 6-month-old daughter.
Dylan Kuhn, 22, of South Chestnut Street, failed to appear for a probation revocation hearing on Thursday, July 9. Chief District Court Judge Doug Walker subsequently issued a no-bond bench warrant, triggering the search.
As of press deadline on Monday, Montezuma County sheriff officials said Kuhn hadn’t been apprehended.
Initially charged with manslaughter and child abuse, Kuhn pleaded guilty to reckless manslaughter in July 2012. He allegedly slammed his infant daughter, Sailor Serenity Raine Kuhn, onto a bed on Nov. 1, 2011.
On July 6, three days before his scheduled court appearance, Kuhn posted on his Facebook page that his probation had been revoked, and he requested that friends appear in court as character witnesses.
“Now facing prison time, for a crime that I didn’t do,” Kuhn wrote.
No one appeared on his behalf at last week’s hearing.
As Thursday morning’s hearing approached, friends and family had posted on Kuhn’s Facebook page that he was missing and they feared for his well-being. A family member posted that Kuhn was last seen on Wednesday, July 8, and friends stated they were actively looking for him. Volunteer search parties were reportedly conducted on Sunday, July 12.
With 15 months remaining on a four-year probationary term, officials filed a four-count complaint against Kuhn on June 17. According to court records, Kuhn missed scheduled probation appointments, tested positive for meth and opiates, skipped planned drug and alcohol tests and failed to engage in ordered counseling.
The manslaughter case received international attention three years ago with media pundits and bloggers who criticized Walker’s sentence as being too light.
Fliers depicting blood dripping over Walker’s photo also surfaced in Cortez Journal news racks in 2013. The handbills, not published by the Journal, stated that Walker was the “worst of the worst,” and claiming that the death of Kuhn’s baby was on the judge’s hands.
At sentencing, Walker cited Kuhn’s lack of a criminal history, his age and the likelihood that he would not be a repeat offender as some of the reasons for not imposing a stiffer punishment.
Kuhn’s sentence also included 90 days in jail, mental health and substance evaluations, and parenting classes and treatment. He was prohibited from being left alone with children under the age of 10.
Under the 2012 plea agreement approved by former District Attorney Russell Wasley, initial child abuse and DUI charges were dismissed.
