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A baby girl from Colorado Springs is fighting for her life and, according to a doctor, suffers irreversible brain damage. The mother and aunt of the child are accused of taping the child’s wrists, ankles, eyes and mouth with tape, leaving her in a running shower, and then falling asleep. They are charged with attempted murder, and their trial is set to proceed at the end of the month.
The child’s 19-year-old mother and 50-year-old aunt were present for the preliminary hearing that determined there was enough evidence to proceed with a criminal trial. Both women are charged with attempted first degree murder and child abuse. The mother is also charged with two counts of crime of violence, each of which carries a sentence of up to 48 years in prison. If found guilty, the young mother could spend the rest of her life in jail. The 20-month-old victim is still in the hospital.
After an emergency call stating that a toddler wasn’t breathing, officers responded and arrived at the 2400 block of Farragut Avenue in Colorado Springs. When paramedics got there, the small child was unconscious; she was immediately transported to Memorial Hospital with serious injuries.
Upon further investigation, police discovered that the injuries were not accidental, leading to the arrest of the victim’s mother and the other woman in the home, an aunt.
According to the arrest affidavit, when police arrived, the little girl was unconscious and not breathing and had black tape marks on her wrists, ankles, eyes and mouth. Police in Nassau and Suffolk have had experience with these kinds of cases.
Sadly, she was pronounced dead at 3:10 p.m., but, miraculously, just after 4 p.m., officials were told the child was again breathing. With her brain deprived of oxygen for so long, a doctor speculates, brain injury was a definite outcome.
The affidavit contained several key pieces of information that the police put together on the day’s events. Apparently, the child’s mother had seen the aunt in the bathroom with the child earlier in the day. She did not investigate nor do anything to stop the aunt before she went into a bedroom and fell asleep. The aunt bound the child and put her in the shower as a disciplinary measure. She then left the room and fell asleep. The water was running on the child until a 7-year-old boy found the girl and woke up the women. The boy said that the aunt was mad at the girl for spilling her drink. When the women found the baby, they called 911 and tried to resuscitate her. The aunt had also spanked the 20-month-old with a belt before she used the shower treatment.
The women’s trial will commence at the end of May.
When negligence leaves you or a child injured, seek compensation or legal proceedings against those responsible. Call on a NYC Brain Injury Attorney to get professional help; your case deserves the dedicated service of a NYC Brain Injury Attorney.