CT Woman Charged With Manslaughter After 1YO Dies From ‘shaken Baby Syndrome’

[Sugar Cookie]

A Waterbury woman has been charged after a 1-year-old she was caring for last October died of what a physician told investigators was “one of the worst cases” she has ever seen of what is commonly referred to as “shaken baby syndrome,” according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

Cynthia Hannah, 35, turned herself in on five counts of risk of injury to a minor and a single count each of first-degree manslaughter, first-degree assault and first-degree reckless endangerment, according to the Waterbury Police Department.

Police said the charges stem from an incident at about 12:43 p.m. on Oct. 5, 2022, when officers responded to a Waterbury apartment on the report of a 1-year-old not breathing. The child had been in the care of Hannah, who police identified as a family member. Police also noted that there were other children present at the time who were identified in the affidavit as her children and others for whom she babysat.

The 1-year-old was initially taken to Saint Mary’s Hospital where a CT scan revealed the boy was suffering from “bilateral subdural hemorrhages,” which was described in the warrant affidavit as bleeding under the membrane that covers the brain. The child was then transferred to Yale New Haven Hospital where his condition deteriorated over the next several days, according to the affidavit. The toddler was pronounced dead on Oct. 10, 2022.

An autopsy performed by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner three days later would note that the child suffered blunt injuries to his head and neck, which resulted in several hemorrhages, as well as to his torso and extremities.

The medical examiner concluded the toddler died of complications of blunt injuries to his head. His death was ruled a homicide.

According to the affidavit, Hannah told Waterbury police during the investigation that she was babysitting for three other children and watching her own children when she noticed that the 1-year-old, who was napping in a playpen, was “limp” and had blue lips. She said she rushed him to the bathroom of the apartment and splashed water on him before calling 911 and notifying the boy’s mother, the affidavit said.

Hannah also told police she performed multiple “rescue breaths” on the toddler before first responders arrived despite not knowing CPR, according to the affidavit.

Hannah gave police an initial statement following the incident and, a day later, went to the Waterbury Police Department and said she had not been entirely truthful and had more information, according to the affidavit. She told investigators the toddler had actually been dropped off at her apartment on Oct. 4, 2022, despite originally saying he had been dropped off the morning of the incident. She also said she had confronted the boy’s mother over text messages about bruising on the boy Hannah alleged that she had found, the affidavit said.

Hannah said it initially did not “dawn on” her that bruising on the child’s back she said she discovered a day before he was found not breathing could have had something to do with what happened, according to the affidavit.

Authorities noted in the affidavit that Hannah’s apartment appeared “cluttered and dirty,” and the bathroom was unusable. The playpen where the toddler was napping was covered in food crumbs and debris, and there were chicken nuggets on the floor as well as scattered trash and bags of open garbage, the affidavit said.

The father of the 1-year-old spoke to investigators in May from the Montgomery County Corrections facility — where Waterbury police said he was being held for not registering as a sex offender — and he said he had been concerned about leaving his child with Hannah because he believed she was on methadone and alleged that she had either previously or currently been using drugs, according to the affidavit. The father said he previously watched the child up until August 2022, when Hannah began babysitting him after his wife pushed him to continue his education with her so the two could better their lives, the affidavit said.

According to the father, the child was sick with a stomach bug in the days leading up to his death, so he and his wife decided not to have Hannah watch him until he seemed to be feeling better on Oct. 4, 2022, according to the affidavit. The father confirmed the boy was dropped off at Hannah’s apartment and was with her for about 30 hours before he and his wife learned the child was not breathing, the affidavit said.

Police noted in the warrant that the child’s mother was initially uncooperative in the investigation, as she said she had been advised by an attorney not to speak with authorities. She eventually agreed to provide police investigators with the toddler’s medical files and spoke with a detective.

During an interview with police, the mother said she and the father checked the child for a bruise in the days before his death that another person — whose identity has been redacted from the warrant affidavit — had reported seeing. Neither parent could find any marks until Hannah sent a photo to the mother through a text message on Oct. 4, 2022, the affidavit said.

During their investigation, Waterbury police consulted with Dr. Lisa Pavlovic, the medical director for the Yale Child Abuse Clinic for Yale New Haven Hospital, about the case and asked her directly about the bruising Hannah alleged she found on the boy. Pavlovic told investigators that even if such bruising was found it would not have contributed to the child’s death, according to the affidavit.


Pavlovic told police the child’s injuries must have occurred while he was in the care of Hannah based on the “severity of the damage to the brain and spinal cord, in conjunction with the retinal hemorrhages,” the affidavit said. The trauma was “so severe” that Pavlovic said “she is positive it happened immediately prior to the 911 call,” police wrote in the warrant affida

Pavlovic also told police “this is one of the worst cases she had come across” in her career of what is commonly known as “shaken baby syndrome,” the affidavit said.

CT woman charged with manslaughter after 1-year-old dies from ‘shaken baby syndrome’

A Waterbury woman has been charged after a 1-year-old in her care last October was found not breathing and was taken to the hospital where the child later died.

www.courant.com

 

[cubby]

I see so much wrong here it's hard to find a place to begin. The dad is a sex offender, the baby was with the "babysitter" for 30 hours? and mother not wanting to cooperate even if she did eventually comply, house was nasty. Did no one even think this baby was in danger from any one of these things?

 

[Sugar Cookie]

@cubby

None of the adults involved cared enough about that baby or any of the children involved in this case.