Sentenced: Braxson Was Brutally Beaten By His Police Officer Father But Miraculously Survived

[Sugar Cookie]

More than two years after her infant son was rushed to the hospital in what has developed into a child abuse case involving her then-husband Curtis Jones, Susan Jones said she found the courage to listen to the 911 call placed by Curtis.

What she heard horrified her enough that she posted the call with her commentary on Justice for Brax, a Facebook page dedicated to raising awareness of her son's case and his ongoing health struggles.

Among her concerns is that Curtis Jones, a one-time Porter County police officer, was casual enough during the roughly 13-minute call to chat and laugh with the dispatcher and tell her to "tell everyone I said hi" while his son makes noises in the background that Susan, a registered nurse, said was agonal or troubled breathing.

Earlier in the call, Curtis tells the dispatcher of his son, "It's just that he's cold and he's not waking up. That's just the weird thing." At another point, he says of his son, "He's really stiff too."

A doctor at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago later said the child suffered "the worst brain injury I have ever seen," according to court documents. The doctors determined the injuries were consistent with being shaken and must have occurred during the time he was in the sole care of Curtis.

Braxson has since regained some vision in one eye and is no longer on seizure medications, but the nearly 3-year-old boy still relies on a feeding tube and is unable to sit up or walk on his own. He is undergoing hyperbaric oxygen treatments several times a week, faces another brain surgery and requires enough care that Susan is no longer able to work.

The trial had been rescheduled from Oct. 2 to Jan. 15 at the request of prosecutors.

https://www.nwitimes.com/news/local...ZXogaOmaucPulnuNNs1UW4Y_MGpB53Y#anchor_item_1

 

[Keepalowprofile]

. one-time Porter County police officer, was casual enough during the roughly 13-minute call to chat and laugh with the dispatcher and tell her to "tell everyone I said hi"

What a bastard.

 

[staysblazed_xo]

Well the dispatcher didn't seem too concerned either. Just talking to him like they were just catching up. Who cares his kid is probably dying in the background.

 

[Sejanus]

Inflict injuries on this maniac to paralyze him from the waist down.
Then take and leave him in the woods to perish

 

[Sugar Cookie]

The paramedic who responded to the distress call for 6-month-old Braxson Jones during the early morning hours of July 24, 2016, told jurors Thursday morning he did not notice any injuries on the child.

Donald Strom testified that he did not suspect abuse as he worked to stabilize the infant, who he said was in respiratory distress and making breathing sounds he had not heard before.

The testimony came as the defense began presenting their case in the ongoing trial of child's father, Curtis Jones, who is accused of shaking or otherwise injuring his son July 24, 2016, while his former wife and the boy's mother was at her overnight nursing job.

Prosecutors wrapped up their evidence against Curtis on Wednesday, and the case now is expected to continue into the middle of next week, attorneys said.

The testimony from Strom conflicts with reports from doctors and other medical officials, who treated the child at the local St. Mary Medical Center and at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.

A social worker told jurors earlier this week that the Illinois medical team working on Braxson found an injury on the child, causing the boy's mother, Susan Jones, to stop crying and question Curtis about its origin.

"You need to tell me right now what happened," Susan reportedly said to Curtis, who then shrugged and said he did nothing.

The medical team at St. Mary's found swelling and bruising on Braxson's forehead on the morning in question and reported the child struggling to breathe and bleeding under his skull, jurors were told this week.

A doctor at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago said the child suffered "the worst brain injury I have ever seen," according to court documents.

A surgeon at Lurie's reportedly removed part of the child's skull to relieve pressure from the swelling brain.

Braxson, who is now 6, survived, but needs constant care, Porter County Deputy Prosecutor Kristen Klink has said.

He is blind, needs diaper changing, is fed through a tube, must be moved by others and no longer communicates on his own, she said.

Upon questioning from defense attorney Nicholas Barnes, Strom said Curtis seemed concerned on the morning in question and asked but was denied the opportunity to ride along in the ambulance with Braxson to the hospital.

Strom also testified that no one told him to slow down or turn off lights and sirens while responding to the Lakes of the Four Seasons home.

The question came in the wake of the 911 call placed by Curtis, where he tells the dispatcher "to kill the Signal 10. I don't think the Signal 10 is necessary. I don't need no lights and sirens waking up the neighbors over here."

Susan, who had posted the call on social media in 2018, said among her concerns was that Curtis was casual enough during the roughly 13-minute call to chat and laugh with the dispatcher and tell her to "tell everyone I said hi" while his son makes noises in the background that Susan, a registered nurse, said was agonal or was evidence of troubled breathing.

"They were talking like old friends," she said at the time.

Paramedic did not suspect child abuse in case against former Porter County cop, jurors told

He testified that he did not suspect abuse as he worked to stabilize the infant, who he said was in respiratory distress and making breathing sounds he had not heard

www.nwitimes.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A former Porter County police officer is going to prison for child neglect that left his young son severely disabled.

Lake Superior Court Judge Michael A. Fish imposed a 10-year sentence on 52-year-old Curtis Jones for delaying medical aid to the then 6-month-old Braxson.

The boy, who is now 6 years old, is blind and unable to walk, feed himself or communicate on his own.

Jones, speaking publicly for the first time since his trial began in April, demanded the judge overturn two neglect counts now on his record and free him from what his lawyer described as an irrational, hate-filled prosecution.

“For the last six years, I have been living in this hellish nightmare,” Jones said.

The judge suspended five years of a 15-year judgment and refused to declare Braxson a victim of shaken baby syndrome since last month’s jury acquitted Jones of battering the child.

Fish also rejected defense claims Jones did nothing wrong, and was the real victim in a six-year legal drama.

He said Jones, a nursing student and former police officer, should have acted immediately when his then 6-month-old son began having breathing problems early July 24, 2016, in their home.

The judge said Jones ignored the danger signs and displayed a leisurely attitude about his son’s medical difficulties when he finally called 911 for help.

“He has shown zero remorse today. Nor has he apologized. This was a tragic case. It will be difficult to believe justice can be done because I can’t return Braxson Jones to good health,” the judge said.

The judge said only Jones and the boy know what happened between midnight, when Jones took over from a babysitter, and when he called his wife at her overnight nursing job to say Braxson was cold, stiff and barely breathing. He then called 911.

A Porter Superior Court jury heard three weeks of evidence and deliberated 28 hours before acquitting Jones May 13 of battery, but convicting him of neglect verdicts that left neither the prosecution nor defense dissatisfied.

Former Porter County cop sentenced to 10 years for child neglect

A former Porter County police officer is going to prison for child neglect that left his young son severely disabled.

www.nwitimes.com

 

[Satanica]

He gets a measly 10 years while Braxson gets a life sentence, and blind at that.

 

[McDanel]

Blind and unable to communicate. A living death.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

I hope every other prisoner knows he was a former police officer

CURTIS R JONES

Earliest Possible Release Date* 11/07/2028

OFFENSE: NEGLECT OF DEPENDENT W? SERIOUS INJURY

His 2023 appeal was denied