A babysitter has been arrested for throwing a five-month-old baby across a room because he would not stop crying, and causing life-threatening head injuries.
The incident took place at a home in the city of College Station in Brazos County in the US state of Texas on 20th January.
The young victim is reportedly slipping in and out of consciousness at the Texas Children’s Hospital in the city of Houston, and is due to undergo his second operation on 10th February.
The baby’s mother Fidelina Velasquez said she left little Adrian and her two-year-old son in the care of babysitter Berta Evelin Lopez-Vasquez, 21, the second time she had used her, while she and her husband went to their place of work.
While at the restaurant the couple works at, the mother received a call from the babysitter saying something was wrong with her youngest son.
She arrived home and took Adrian to a medical centre in College Station before he was transferred to the hospital in Houston.
According to reports, the babysitter initially told the police that she was throwing Adrian in the air to stop him crying when she dropped him on the floor by accident.
However, she later reportedly confessed to the police that she threw the baby.
The police’s probable cause statement said: “(The suspect) stated that Adrian continued crying non-stop and was getting frustrated and angered with his crying.
“She stated that she fed him, changed his pamper and changed his clothing and he continued to cry. She stated that she then picked him up off her bed and began holding him with both hands and looking at him asking him why he didn’t stop crying.
“She stated that after a few seconds or so, she then lost it and began shaking the baby vigorously for about five seconds for him to stop crying. She stated that at that moment he continued to cry and out of frustration and anger, then threw him against the wall that her bed backed up against.”
The police determined that the suspect threw Adrian between six and seven feet.
The boy was diagnosed with brain damage and fractures on the back of his skull, and doctors at the Texas Children’s Hospital said he continues to suffer seizures, adding that he has forehead bruising, head trauma, fractures on the left side of his skull, retinal haemorrhages, and a brain haematoma.
The suspect has been charged with causing serious bodily injury to a child and is being held in custody on a bond of USD 200,000 (GBP 148,000).
The victim’s mother said the baby remains in a critical but stable condition and the long-term effects of his injuries are still unknown, adding that they hope to know more after this week’s operation.
The owner of Nam Cafe in College Station, where the victim’s parents work, has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help with their medical expenses that has already raised USD 109,000 (www.gofundme.com/f/please-help-adrians-family-with-medical-expenses).
The investigation continues.