Cases against a Silt man and woman accused of child abuse are headed toward preliminary hearings to determine if enough evidence exists to go to trial.

Kurtis Kumar, 31, and Desirae Jones, 29, were both before Garfield County District Judge Denise Lynch for separate hearings on Thursday.

The boyfriend and girlfriend were arrested Oct. 22, 2022 on charges of first-degree assault, child abuse and knowingly causing serious bodily injury involving a 2-year-old child who was in their care.

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Multiple police agencies, including the Silt Police Department and Garfield County Sheriff’s Office, worked together to locate the couple following reports that they had severely injured the child.

The couple, along with the child, were found inside a car in the Silt area following a search. Kumar and Jones were immediately arrested, and the child and a sibling were taken into emergency custody.

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On Thursday, a preliminary hearing was scheduled for Feb. 24 in the case against Jones, and Kumar’s case could be set for preliminary hearing the same day, since the respective cases involve the same set of witnesses.

That, however, is still to be determined as it was discussed during Kumar’s hearing that his public defender, Jennifer Jones (no relation to the other defendant), is new to the case.

Defendant Jones is being represented separately by private Denver defense attorney Liz Krupa.

Krupa indicated in the Thursday hearing that she would like for Jones’ bond amount and a standing protection order involving her other children (not the victim in the case) to be addressed as well on Feb. 24.

Kumar and Desirae Jones both remain in the Garfield County Jail on $1 million bond each. At a Dec. 1, 2022, hearing Kumar was granted permission by the court to have written and phone communication from jail with two other children not related to the case.

Silt home invasion case also heard

Also before Judge Lynch on Thursday was the Silt home invasion, menacing and kidnapping case against Janvier Pinkard, 37, who has been undergoing mental health evaluations at the Colorado Mental Health Hospital in Pueblo.

Now back in the Garfield County Jail on $107,500 bond, Pinkard had his case continued to Feb. 16. Attorneys in the case shared information that Pinkard has been found to have restored competency to stand trial, but that a sanity evaluation is still pending.

Post Independent interim Managing Editor and senior reporter John Stroud can be reached at jstroud@postindependent.com or at 970-384-9160.