SBS: Connecticutt: Aisha and Wadham Alamri on rehab program

Jeff Morganteen, April 1, 2011

A couple facing felony assault charges after their 9-month-old son was diagnosed with serious injuries consistent with shaken-baby syndrome last year was admitted into a diversionary court program on Friday that would drop the offenses from their records.

Aisha Alamri, 27, and Wadham Alamri, 25, now of Greenwich, were admitted to the accelerated rehabilitation program Friday at state Superior Court in Stamford and must serve 18 months probation, after which the state would wipe their records clean of first-degree assault and risk of injury to a child charges, both felonies. They also must cooperate with the state Department of Children and Families and comply with a parenting plan.

Formerly of Hope Street, the Alamris were arrested last January after Stamford police officers came to their home with arrest and search warrants. In an incident in December 2009, the baby was bleeding internally behind the eyes and had signs of old and new internal bleeding around his brain, police said. The soft spot on top of its head was also damaged. The injuries were so severe the baby was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital.

The injuries were consistent with accidents, physical trauma or shaken-baby syndrome. While at Yale-New Haven, a trauma team concluded the baby would be injured again if he returned home.

Officers interviewed the married couple in January 2010. They gave officers an inconsistent account of events leading to their son's injuries. Police said the physical layout of their home did not match their account.

As a result, the DCF took custody of the child.

Staff writer Jeff Morganteen can be reached at jeff.morganteen@scni.com or 203-964-2215.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Couple-gets-probation-program-in-shaken-baby-case-1319151.php#ixzz1IpzTn0Yh

SBS: Connecticutt: Joshua Murray charged

 03/15/2011  Karen Florin

A Colchester man accused in a shaken baby abuse case made his first appearance Monday in the New London Superior Court where major crimes are tried.
Joshua A. Murray, 22, of 57 White Oak Drive is free on a $100,000 bond while his case is pending. He is accused of bouncing the 2-month-old son of his girlfriend against his chest several times, causing brain injuries. The baby, who is now in custody of his maternal grandmother, may suffer long-term effects from the abuse, according to a court document.
State police were called to The William W. Backus Hospital on Jan. 9 for a report that the hospital suspected shaken baby syndrome in an infant and was transferring him to the Connecticut Children's Medical Center via Life Star helicopter. They learned that Murray and the child's mother had called 911 after the child became unresponsive.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit prepared by Detective Joseph Masson, Murray said he and the baby's mother were living together in Jewett City and that the mother asked him to take care of the child while she slept because she needed the night off. He said he held the baby under the armpits and bounced him up and down and against his chest to stop him from crying. Murray said the baby's forehead hit his chest five to 10 times and that he did not think he was hurting the child, who did stop crying. Murray admitted he had done the same thing to the child about a month earlier.
Murray is charged with first-degree assault and risk of injury to a minor and appeared Monday with his attorney, Michael Blanchard. Judge Patrick J. Clifford reminded Murray there is a protective order that prohibits him from having contact with the victim and continued the case to March 29.
http://www.theday.com/article/20110315/NWS02/303159939/-1/NWS

SBS: Connecticutt: Debbie DeCarvalho and Mario Leone arrested

John Nickerson,  February 3, 2011

A Westport couple arrested for allegedly hurting their 6-month-old foster child and not caring for three other foster children in their care pleaded not guilty to assault and risk of injury charges at state Superior Court in Norwalk Thursday.

Debbie DeCarvalho, 42, and Mario Leone, 38, of Westport, made the pleas before Judge Bruce Hudock.

The two were arrested on first-degree assault charges Jan. 19 following a six-month Westport police investigation after the couple brought a 6-month-old boy into the Norwalk Hospital Emergency Room in early July.

The boy had bleeding on the brain and a possible skull fracture that could have been caused by shaken baby syndrome, according to arrest warrant affidavits.

Leone's defense attorney, Joseph Colarusso, said it is too early to comment because he has not seen the baby's medical records or talked with others associated with the case.

"My client steadfastly maintains his innocence," he said.

DeCarvalho, kennel manager and pet stylist at Town House for Dogs and Cats at her Post Road East address, told investigators the baby, which had been in her care for three weeks, had not fallen or experienced injuries to the head.

Leone, however, told police at one point during the short time they had the child, the baby accidentally fell off the couch and landed on his back.

DeCarvalho's attorney, Vicki Hutchinson, said her client maintains she did nothing to harm any of the children in her care.

When staff from the state Department of Children and Families interviewed the three other children in their care, they said that DeCarvalho paid little attention to them while attending her pet-grooming business. The children, however, said they never saw DeCarvalho or Leone mistreat the baby.

DeCarvalho was charged with three additional counts of risk of injury to a minor as a result of those interviews.

DeCarvalho and Leone are to return to court Feb. 25.

After turning themselves over to police, DeCarvalho was released on $50,000 cash bond and Leone was released on $25,000 cash bond.

http://www.ctpost.com/default/article/Westport-couple-pleads-not-guilty-in-shaken-baby-995837.php#ixzz1EhLcSXou

SBS: Washington State: Miguel Garza charged

 

 

Kristin M. Kraemer, Herald staff writer : 02/15/11

PASCO — A Pasco father has been charged with shaking his 3-month-old daughter so severely that the baby may have permanent vision loss and other long-term damage.

Miguel Garza II, 27, initially claimed the girl stopped breathing after choking on milk, then told doctors he accidentally dropped a bottle on her face and she had gone limp, according to court documents.
But doctors who examined the nearly comatose baby in October said her brain injury was the result of "inflicted head trauma," or shaken baby syndrome.
The baby survived and reportedly is living with a foster parent while continuing treatment, including a feeding tube surgically inserted into her stomach.
Garza is charged in Benton County Superior Court with first-degree assault of a child. He has been out of custody while Kennewick police investigated, and has been sent a letter to appear in court Feb. 24 to enter a plea.
His is one of two cases filed in Benton County in the last week involving allegations of significant child abuse.
In Garza's case, police and paramedics were called to a Kennewick home Oct. 19 for reports of a baby not breathing. Garza was alone with the baby.
Officer Drew Sneyd was the first to arrive and "administered multiple palm strikes to the baby's back and she then began making gurgling noises," Deputy Prosecutor Kristin McRoberts wrote in the court documents.
Garza told Sneyd he had given the baby a bottle while she was lying on the bed and she started choking. The girl's mother later told police her daughter had been born several weeks premature but otherwise had been healthy.
At Kennewick General Hospital, Garza allegedly told a doctor his daughter went limp after he accidentally dropped a bottle on her face, and suggested that was why her lips were swollen. The doctor, however, told police the injuries were not consistent with that explanation.
The baby was flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane after tests revealed she had bleeding on the brain.
Kennewick police again talked to Garza. In a recorded statement, he said he had forgotten to warm up the milk so the baby began crying while he was feeding her. He said he removed the bottle from her mouth to warm it up and it dropped on her face.
He said he warmed the bottle in the kitchen and returned to the bedroom to find the baby still crying.
Garza "stated that he put the bottle in the baby's mouth, and while she was drinking, she continued crying and then started to choke," documents said. "He patted her back and she started vomiting milk out of her mouth and nose. She then went completely limp and he shook her for a second to see if she was OK."
Garza said he then called 911.
Doctors who examined the baby in Spokane diagnosed her with a head injury, noted her swollen lips and bruising on her right eye and put her on a ventilator. An ophthalmologist found the eye "extremely worrisome because the baby was at risk for permanent limitation of vision and retinal scarring," court documents said.
Another doctor described her brain injury as "widespread and severe" and was concerned she might not survive.
The baby was moved to Oregon Health and Science University Hospital in Portland on Nov. 4, where doctors confirmed bleeding on her brain and in her retinas, and discovered she had an inflamed trachea and seizures. After surgery on her eyes, the baby was described as having a poor visual prognosis. A neurosurgeon also inserted a shunt into the baby's brain.
She was released to a foster parent Nov. 12, documents said.
Detectives repeatedly interviewed Garza. He allegedly said he may have shaken his daughter for as long as 10 seconds, and described holding her head with the bottle in her mouth so she couldn't turn away.
Garza allowed investigators to record a video while he re-enacted his story. The video was shown to one of the Spokane doctors who worked on the baby, and the doctor said Garza's actions as he claimed could not have caused the brain injury, documents said. The doctor noted there was no damage to the little girl's lung as would be expected if she had choked on milk.
 http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/02/15/1545374/pasco-man-accused-of-shaking-infant.html#ixzz1EgvjbEWo

SBS: WASHINGTON: Scott Daniel Sparks

February 1, 2011 Tony Lystra

The five-year-old brother of a baby hospitalized last week with critical injuries told investigators he saw his father throw the 3-month-old across the living room twice, according to a police report.

Scott Daniel Sparks, 30, of Kelso shook the baby before throwing him, the report said. The baby landed atop a pile of toy tractors. In another instance, investigators believe, the 5-year-old boy was struck by the flying infant after his father had thrown him.
The 3-month-old boy, who had been admitted to Legacy Emmanuel Hospital in Portland in critical condition two weeks ago, is expected to survive, but it's uncertain what lasting effect his injuries may have on his development, Kelso Police Chief Andrew Hamilton said Tuesday.
The baby's parents insisted that he was never shaken or abused, the report said.
A Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge found probable cause Monday to charge Sparks, the boys' father, with first-degree assault of a child. He was arrested Friday and remains in the Cowlitz County Jail, where he is being held on $100,000 bail.
Both boys are in protective custody, the report said.
The baby, who was born to Sparks and his wife, Dusty Childress, at St. John Medical Center in October, suffered torn brain tissue, four fractured ribs, a fractured leg bone and hemorrhaging in his eyes, the police report said. Kelso police described the injuries last week as potentially "life-threatening" and consistent with "shaken baby syndrome."
Doctors told police that tests revealed bleeding on both sides of the baby's brain. The bleeding took place on different occasions, indicating more than one episode of abuse, doctors said. The doctors also told investigators some of the abuse could have happened as much as one or two months ago.
Sparks told police the baby "has never fallen, has never been hit with anything and has never been shaken," according to the police report.
The baby, he said, was having episodes of "non-stop crying" and the child would stiffen his limbs, then quiet down, the report said. Sparks said he thought the episodes might be seizures.
Sparks told police he called 911 on Jan. 17 because the baby appeared to stop breathing after one of these episodes. The baby was taken to St. John, and his antacid medication was increased, Sparks told investigators. Sparks said additional tests revealed the injuries when he and his wife inquired about causes for the baby's behavior.
The 5-year-old told authorities his mother was present at the time of the abuse and that she had cried.
When investigators asked how the baby's ribs were broken, Childress suggested her 5-year-old son jumped over a couch and landed on the baby's chest, the report said.
Investigators also said that, before the interview, Childress told her 5-year-old son "not to talk about his daddy when he was interviewed." Police said Childress was "using her influence as a mother to have (her son) withhold information concerning this investigation" and that she was "clearly tampering with a witness."
The witness tampering matter has not yet been referred to prosecutors, Cowlitz County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Michelle Shaffer said Tuesday.
Court documents said Sparks is unemployed and was previously convicted of a felony drug violation.
http://tdn.com/news/local/article_fb378082-2e82-11e0-9e8c-001cc4c03286.html

SBS: Connecticutt: Joshua Murray

A 22-year-old former Jewett City man was arraigned Friday in Norwich Superior Court to face charges he caused serious injuries to his girlfriend’s 2-month-old son.
 Aaron Flaum/ NorwichBulletin.com

Joshua A. Murray,  was arrested Wednesday after an investigation into a Jan. 9 incident in which a baby was rushed to The William W. Backus Hospital in Norwich from a residence where Murray and the baby’s mother were living, police said.
The baby boy was unconscious and unresponsive, police said, and an initial assessment at Backus showed he had sustained a head injury, or Shaken Baby Syndrome. He was flown to Connecticut Children’s Medical Center in Hartford where further examination revealed the child had sustained head trauma and doctors found two hemorrhages on his brain, one old and one new, according to police reports.
On the night of the child’s hospitalization, Murray told police the baby would not sleep and he was bouncing the child on his knee when it pooped and went limp.
In later interviews, Murray told police that on at least two occasions when the baby was being fussy and would not fall asleep, he bounced the baby off his chest, holding the child under the armpits and bouncing him up and down with the baby’s forehead striking his chest, police reports show.
Murray told police he never intentionally hurt the child.
“Murray concluded his statement by saying that he is very sorry that the victim is in the hospital. Murray stated that he wished he knew he was hurting the victim,” according to the police report.
Rebecca Nixie, a registered nurse who is a parent educator and teaches infant CPR and newborn infant care at The William W. Backus Hospital, said incidents of Shaken Baby Syndrome occur “more frequently then we think it does.”
She recalled one month in which three different infants were brought in for treatment. She said education for new parents is offered to all families in the hospital’s birthing center.
“We go over what Shaken Baby Syndrome is, the signs and symptoms and how they can prepare if they have a baby that is very fussy,” Nixie said. 
Shaken Baby Syndrome occurs when a baby is violently shaken by the shoulders, arms or legs. It can result from shaking alone or from impact. The resulting whiplash effect can cause bleeding within the brain or the eyes, because the baby has undeveloped neck muscles.
“It’s not just bouncing the baby on the knee gently,” Nixie said. “This is forceful shaking. It’s the movement of the baby’s head back and forth that can cause damage.”
Nixie said a parent or caregiver may shake a baby out of anger or frustration, often because the baby won’t stop crying.
“I think they do it not knowing they’re hurting the baby,” she said. “Babies are going to cry. That’s the only method of communication they have.”
Shaken Baby Syndrome is the leading cause of child abuse deaths in the United States and newborns up to 4 months old are at greatest risk of injury from shaking, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nancy Gentes, executive director at Madonna Place in Norwich, said her organization also offers a variety of programs for parents and caregivers to try and prevent situations such as this. Statistics, she said, show that many of these cases of abuse are caused by someone other than the biological parent.
“I’m sad to hear about yet another case like this,” Gentes said. “I hope the child is OK.”
Murray is charged with three felony counts — first-degree assault and two counts of risk of injury to a minor.
He posted a $100,000 bond before Friday’s court appearance.
Acting on recommendations of the court’s family relations division, Judge Hunchu Kwak ordered a no contact order, barring Murray from any contact with the baby.
The case was continued to Feb. 25, allowing Murray time to find an attorney. The baby is in stable condition in the care of the Department of Children and Families, police said.
http://www.norwichbulletin.com/news/crime/x1145630842/Suspect-Baby-was-injured-by-accident

SBS: West Virginia: Gary Lee Hensley

Prestonsburg Police say a man arrested on child abuse charges turns out to be a fugitive from Ohio.

35 year old Gary Lee Hensley is accused of severely beating his own baby.

Police discovered he allegedly fled from custody in Ohio before moving to Floyd County.

Prestonsburg Police say doctors at Highlands Regional Medical Center called officers to the hospital Saturday night after an ambulance brought in a seven week old baby.

“There were injuries that would range from fractures to bleeding around the brain. It's an obvious sign of shaken baby syndrome,” Detective Steve Little said.

Investigators questioned the parents, 30 year old Rachel Ousley and 35 year old Gary Hensley and charged them in connection with alleged abuse. Hensley is facing first degree assault charges. When officers arrested him, they discovered he is a wanted fugitive from Ohio.

“My indication was he walked away from a halfway house there,” Detective Little said.

Gary Hensley turned down our request for a jailhouse interview. He is being held at the detention center on a half million dollar bond.

Investigators say the seven week old baby boy has broken legs and severe head trauma. He is now at Cabell-Huntington Hospital in West Virginia.

Police say the child is now in social services custody.

http://www.wkyt.com/wymtnews/headlines/Man_arrested_on_child_abuse_charges_is_a_fugitive_from_Ohio_113305599.html