SIDS: Michigan: 2nd death in family

LINDA GITTLEMAN
Montcalm County sheriff’s deputies are investigating the sudden death of a 25-day-old infant girl in Stanton, the second infant in the family to die.
The 25-year-old mother had another infant succumb about five years earlier under the same circumstances, said Undersheriff Mark Bellinger.
Deputies remember the earlier incident that concerned the death of a 45-day-old baby girl, he said.
No charges have been filed on this baby’s death, but police are continuing to investigate.
Emergency services were called  in Stanton at 4:50 a.m. Saturday after being told the baby had stopped breathing.
Following attempts at resuscitation, the baby was taken to Sheridan Community Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
An autopsy is being performed, Bellinger said.
Police are not releasing information where the baby was sleeping; whether she was in a crib or in bed with an adult, Bellinger said.
However, it is believed that alcohol was not a factor in the incident, he said.
Also, “There is no indication the baby was sick,” he said.
Physicians who conducted the autopsy of the baby girl who died five years ago ruled that she had died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Bellinger said he believes the mother has other children but he isn’t sure where they are living.
The father of the baby was at home at the time of the death, Bellinger said.
“We are treating this like any other death of a child,” Bellinger said. “(The mother) has not been charged. We will continue to investigate.”

http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2011/11/01/news/doc4eaefd7ebb2f3238519716.txt?viewmode=fullstory

SBS: Michigan: Devin Deangelis freed on bond

A man accused of killing a baby was set free on bond Friday with no restrictions.

Devin Deangelis is charged with murder after the death of his former girlfriend's 7-week-old daughter.


On Friday, a judge decided to grant Deangelis a $30,000 bond. He paid the money and is free from prison without any restrictions.

The child's mother, Kelly Hayes, said she is living a nightmare knowing the man she said killed her daughter is free to run.

"This is hell on Earth right now," Hayes said. "They are basically giving him the chance to run."

Wayne County prosecutors said they objected to Judge James Callahan's ruling to let Deangelis out of jail before his trial.

Callahan offered no explanation for his decision to set Deangelis free.

In August, Hayes' daughter, Isabella, was rushed to Children's Hospital in Detroit, where she was diagnosed with brain damage from a skull fracture and the symptoms of shaken baby syndrome, doctors said. She later died.

The medical examiner determined her death was from blunt force trauma to the head.

Deangelis was arrested and charged with child abuse and first-and second-degree murder.

"That's the worst feeling as a parent," Hayes said. "Especially when you're child's murdered."

Hayes said she is in hiding because she said the judge gave her ex-boyfriend a chance to come after her.

SBS: Michigan Devin Deangelis freed on bond

SBS: Michigan: DeAngelo Henderson and Corey Yeager

Iris Perez  (02/26/11) --

Doctors at Hurley Medical Center are reporting that Shaken Baby Syndrome is a rising problem in Flint.

After two shaken baby cases in Flint last month, a new awareness effort is underway in Mid-Michigan involving doctors reaching out to teens to put an end to the crime.
DeAngelo Henderson and Corey Yeager are the two young fathers who critically shook their month-old babies in January.
Henderson's daughter died after the violent shaking. Yeager's daughter was last reported in critical condition. Both men could face more than 15 years in prison.
Preventing these cases is Dr. Faisal Mawri's passion. Mawri, a pediatrician, says he's seen one too many shaken baby cases at Hurley Medical Center.
"Absolutely I care about it because shaken baby syndrome is 100 percent preventable," Mawri said.
Now, Mawri and his team are holding seminars at five Genesee County high schools to prevent the crime. The effort is part of a fellowship project funded by a $12,000 grant.
"We came in here today, handed them the baby and showed them what they shouldn't do with the baby," said Pediatric Emergency Physician Rachel Stanley.
Following the seminar, the students were surveyed on the facts, tested two months later for retention, and then rewarded.
"I'm going to find all these kids again. I'm going to give them that survey and once they complete that survey, I'm going to give them a $10 gift card," said Hurley Medical Center pediatric researcher Beth Grundman. "Bringing in these babies brings a sense of reality to the whole educational department."
http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/local&id=7982723

SBS: Michigan:

Kim Russell:  Jan 17, 2011

Flint police are investigating the death of a 4-month-old girl they say died after her father violently shook her.
It happened Friday afternoon at an apartment in the 2600 block of Ridgecrest Court.  Police tell NBC25 they arrested a 19-year-old father for child abuse. He remains lodged in the Genesee County Jail and is expected to be arraigned Tuesday.
Experts at Genesys Regional Medical Center say this tragic incident is something that they try to prevent. Often shaken baby syndrome happens because a parent is frustrated and trying to stop a baby’s crying.
“Babies start to cry.  It is what they do.  They cry two to three hours everyday,” says Charlotte Mather, Genesys Regional Medical Center Director of Women and Children’s Services. 
 “You just want it to stop, and you make a bad choice with no mal-intent.”
Mather says it only takes five seconds of shaking to do life-long damage, if not death.
That is why she put together a program at the medical center that educates new parents.  All new parents are shown a movie explaining shaken baby syndrome, are given pamphlets on it, and are asked to sign a contract saying they have been taught that shaking a baby can lead to death.
They are also given reading material with suggestions on how to cope with a fussy baby.
Parents are told to ask for help from a friend or family member they trust, so parents can get emotional or physical rest they need to maintain calm.
If they feel they are becoming frustrated they are told to take a time out.
“I can put my baby in a safe environment and walk away until my anxiety goes down, then return and care for the child.”
It is advice that can be life-saving.  An estimated 2,500 babies suffer from shaken baby syndrome.  According to aboutshakenbaby.com, one in four shaken babies will die from it.
http://www.connectmidmichigan.com/news/story.aspx?id=568527

SBS: Michigan: charged are Deangelo J. Henderson, and Corey M. Yeager

January 20, 2011

By David Harris |

GENESEE COUNTY, Michigan — Two fathers in two days have been accused of violently shaking their baby daughters.
Four-month-old Nahari Henderson of Flint is dead and 8-month-old Lily May Yeager of Genesee Township is in critical condition.
"Whenever a 4-month-old dies of this trauma and then I have to charge the father with a crime, it's a tragedy," Prosecutor David Leyton said on Tuesday, after Deangelo J. Henderson, 19, was charged with murder and a first-degree child abuse.

 Corey M. Yeager

The next day, Corey M. Yeager, 21, was charged with first-degree child abuse for allegedly shaking his daughter in their Bray Road home Sunday.

Dr. Faisal Mawri, pediatric emergency fellow at the University of Michigan Health System and former chief pediatric resident at Hurley, said there are  1,400 cases of shaken baby syndrome reported each year nationwide.
He said the actual number is much higher because the incidents are under reported.
And, Faisal said he believes the Flint area has a higher per capita shaken baby syndrome rate than the national average. It was one of the reasons he received a $15,000 grant to educate high school students on the dangers of shaken baby syndrome.
“The parent loses control, sometimes it’s just 4 or 5 seconds,” he said. “It takes significant amount of force.”

Deangelo J. Henderson

Shaken baby syndrome is the result of brain damage or neck and back damage, and it is particularly dangerous because babies neck muscles aren’t fully developed, he said.
Education is key to prevention, he said.
“When you get frustrated, call a friend,” he said. “Walk away, put the baby in a safe place and check in on a baby frequently. Walking away from the baby and coming back is not
going to cause brain damage.”
Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said many times the parent is a young person not ready for children. That’s not an excuse, he said.
“I don’t care how tired stressed or sick you become, you are obligated to take care of that child,” he said.
Nahari died Sunday after allegedly being taken to the hospital unresponsive on Friday afternoon.
Police said Lily was crying when her father allegedly started shaking her. Yeager was arrested after police were called to the hospital on Sunday.
Yeager said at his video arraignment Wednesday that he was laid off two months ago from a lawn care business. Magistrate Dena Altheide set a $50,000 bond and said he could not have any contact with his daughter.
Leyton said prosecuting the cases is hard.
“It’s very difficult to review them, to look at the facts, in some cases see pictures and read autopsies,” Leyton said. “For prosecutors and police, it’s emotionally taxing on us.”
http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2011/01/two_fathers_in_two_days_charge.html

SBS: Michigan: Adam Benjamin Stevens

Danielle Salisbury | Jackson Citizen Patriot

Handout photo: Adam Benjamin Stevens

The case against a 28-year-old man accused of murder in connection with the death of his nearly 3-month-old baby is going to Circuit Court.
At the close of a preliminary examination Wednesday, District Judge Michael Klaeren found there was probable cause to believe Adam Benjamin Stevens, 28, committed felony murder and first-degree child abuse. The examination began Dec. 2.
Stevens is accused of shaking Kian Stevens, born May 21, inside the Blackman Township apartment he shared with Kian’s mother, Crystal Anderson, causing the baby to stop breathing.
Anderson, the only witness to testify Wednesday, called 911 about 12:50 a.m. Aug. 19. Kian died about 5 p.m. the same day at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor.
Anderson said she woke about 12:30 a.m. to the baby screaming and found Stevens with the child. Anderson testified Stevens was holding the boy upside down, said Assistant Prosecutor Jerard Jarzynka and Stevens’ lawyer, Michael Dungan.
He then quickly flipped the baby right-side-up, without supporting his head, Jarzynka said, recalling Anderson’s testimony.
Stevens denies shaking his son, Dungan said.
“No one is testifying that could cause a shaken baby,” Dungan said. “(Prosecutors) don’t have any witness that is going to come to court and say that he shook the baby.”
Anderson earlier said Kian was gasping for air when she spotted him with Stevens that morning. She took him from his father and to a bedroom. Eventually, he tried to cry, she said. He made a funny noise and “all the breath went out of him,” she said in August.
Stevens, who initially discouraged calling 911, tried to resuscitate the child, but the baby never regained consciousness, she said.
The boy died of severe and abusive head trauma, two doctors testified on Dec. 2.
Based on her conversations with the parents and a medical examination, Dr. Bethany Mohr, director of the UM child-protection team, said the injuries were caused by shaking, an impact to the head or both.
The whole case, which is expected to go to trial, will be a “battle of the medical experts,” Dungan said. It is not like a shooting or a stabbing where there is little or no question about how the injuries were inflicted, he said.
Dungan said he has three experts who will review the police reports, medical and autopsy records, and transcripts of testimony.
“I suspect that they are going to have an opinion other than shaken-baby syndrome,” Dungan said.
Kian was Stevens’ only child.
“Even Crystal testified that it was his first child. He was excited for his first child. ... He loved that child and truly enjoyed being a father,” Dungan said.
Stevens was a “very physical dad,” who liked to pick up his son and be active with him, Dungan said. He had to be reminded to handle Kian carefully, Anderson said in August.
That same month, days after Kian died, Anderson’s other three children — ages 9, 4, and 2 — were removed from her care. The 9-year-old is with her paternal grandmother; the other two are with their father, according to court records.
Anderson said she witnessed “on more than one occasion” Stevens shaking Kian to the extent his head was flopping backward and forward,” according to a Department of Human Services petition.
A hearing to terminate her parental rights is scheduled for Jan. 25.
http://www.mlive.com/news/jackson/index.ssf/2010/12/murder_case_against_father_of.html

SBS: Michigan

Aug 20, 2010
A Blackman Township man was arrested Thursday at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital after police say medical staff determined his 3-month-old son died of injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome.
The 27-year-old man is charged with felony murder, second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse, said Jon Johnston, the township's deputy director of public safety.
The father's name will be released after he is arraigned today at 12th District Court in Jackson County, Johnston said.
The baby died at 5 p.m. Thursday after being flown to C.S. Mott Children's Hospital from Allegiance Health in Jackson, police said. An autopsy is scheduled for today.
According to Johnston, officers responded to a report by the baby's parents at 12:50 a.m. Thursday that he was in his crib at his Pheasant Run home and not breathing, police said. The arrest came after interviews were conducted with the man, other family members and medical personnel who tended to the baby, Johnston said.
University of Michigan police officers assisted in the arrest, a university police incident log said.
Lee Higgins
http://www.annarbor.com/news/blackmon-township-man-accused-of-shaking-baby-is-arrested-at-motts-childrens-hospital/