FARMINGTON — A Wilton man is expected to change his plea to guilty in connection with the death of his former girlfriend’s 17-month-old son on Nov. 29, Maine Deputy Attorney General Bill Stokes said Friday.

David Allen Cook, 26, was indicted in March on a charge of manslaughter in the death of Matteo Hanson at the child’s mother’s apartment where Cook was watching the children. Brandy S. Swett, the mother, was working at the time.

Cook told police the boy fell down a flight of stairs, possibly pushed by a young sibling while they were in his care.
However, a state medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Hanson said the boy died from extensive blunt force trauma to the torso, consistent with being severely kicked or punched.

Cook initially pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, but Stokes said Friday his office had received word that there would be a change of plea.

That plea is scheduled to take place at 8:30 a.m. Friday, Aug. 21, at Franklin County Superior Court.

Maine State Police Trooper Jeffrey Love arrested Cook on Dec. 26 on the manslaughter charge, which carries up to 30 years in jail. He has remained in jail since his arrest, except for a short time in January when he was released after $100,000 in real estate surety was posted. The property was later found not to have the equity needed.

 
Cook is being held at the Somerset County Jail in Madison on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 worth of property. Cook’s attorney, David Sanders, was not available for comment on Friday.

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