Greensburg man arrested in connection with infant son's 2023 death
A Southwest Greensburg man was arrested Tuesday in connection with his son’s July death at a Mt. Pleasant Township home.
State police said Jason F. Ludwig, 38, concealed the 8-month-old boy’s death after apparently falling asleep with the child on a couch. The boy was identified in court papers as C.L. An obituary indicated the child’s name was Carter.
He was pronounced dead July 21 at Independence Health Latrobe Hospital.
Ludwig initially told police he put the boy in his crib between 8:30 and 9 p.m. July 20 and woke around 3 a.m. when Carter’s breathing monitor was sounding an alarm, according to court papers. He reported taking off the boy’s pajamas and giving him CPR. During a search of the home, police found a set of pajamas, which they said were clean.
The child’s mother told police she tried to check on Ludwig around 7:30 p.m. July 20, but was unable to reach him, though a neighbor confirmed he was home at 9 p.m. After the boy’s death, she reported finding another set of pajamas Carter was wearing with feces and vomit on them, police said.
She provided investigators with the pajamas and text messages in which Ludwig admitted to falling asleep with the boy, according to court papers. During an interview with him in October, troopers said Ludwig told them he knew when he woke up on the couch that Carter was dead. Ludwig told investigators he changed the child’s pajamas and diaper, put him in the crib and activated the breathing monitor before calling 911, according to court papers.
“He placed the sensor on C.L because he wanted to make it look like he found him in the crib,” Trooper Evan Terek wrote in the complaint.
Carter’s cause and manner of death was not listed by police in the complaint. The Westmoreland County Coroner’s Office said the case is pending and referred questions to the district attorney’s office. No information was available from state police or the district attorney’s office Tuesday.
Ludwig declined comment when contacted by the Trib. He is free on $10,000 unsecured bail. A June 3 preliminary hearing is set.
He is charged with concealing the death of a child, obstruction, child endangerment and tampering with evidence.
Renatta Signorini is a TribLive reporter covering breaking news, crime, courts and Jeannette. She has been working at the Trib since 2005. She can be reached at rsignorini@triblive.com.
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