http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=11&articleid=20090808_12_A13_BOEROm704211A woman who is charged in the 2008 death of her 15-month-old stepson has been arrested in Texas and booked into the Wagoner County Jail.
A first-degree murder count against Shiloh Brafford, 27, alleges that she willfully used unreasonable force against Davis Ryan Brafford on July 18, 2008, causing him to suffer "nonaccidental physical injuries" at a Broken Arrow residence.
Davis died two days later at St. Francis Hospital in Tulsa, records indicate.
The state Medical Examiner's Office attributed the boy's death to craniocerebral injuries resulting from blunt head trauma, a spokeswoman said. The office listed his manner of death as unknown.
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Two physicians who examined Davis at the hospital told the OSBI that "to a reasonable degree of medical certainty," the child suffered a nonaccidental head injury, documents indicate.
Dr. Roger Barton, a physician at St. Francis, told the investigator that Davis' injuries were inconsistent with explanations given by Brafford, a court affidavit states.
In interviews with authorities, Brafford gave several versions of what happened to the boy. She said he had struck his head after slipping on a slick, hard surface by the pool or on a tile floor inside the house; that she had thrown him up in the air a few times while playing; and that the child had bounced on a mattress on which other children had been jumping, records show.
In a 911 call, she told a dispatcher that Davis had been "moaning" and "limp" for about 10 to 15 minutes but that she "didn't really know" what happened to him, reports indicate.
Autopsy findings showed that the toddler had sustained a heavy impact on the back of his head but that he had no other significant injuries.
"It is very unlikely that a low-level fall, such as when a child slips and falls while running would produce the degree of injury seen," the autopsy report says.
The medical examiner concluded that it's "plausible that the injury could have occurred accidentally from a higher level fall with impact of the head on the floor. The possibility of nonaccidental intentionally inflicted trauma is also not ruled out."
On the day Davis was injured, his father, Daniel Brafford, had left him with Shiloh Brafford, reports show.
He filed for divorce from her in February, documents indicate. Also pending against her is a wrongful death suit filed by the boy's biological mother.
http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=10867366"Bouncing him on the bed, giving no description to the 911 dispatch of his condition at the time we believe was bizarre behavior with a nurse with ICU training which is what she had had," said Rachel Gusman, Amber Brafford's (bio-mom) attorney.
Broken Arrow Police investigated the case and turned the evidence over to the Wagoner County District Attorney who, at first, declined to file charges. But, Amber Brafford requested a further investigation by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.
After receiving additional evidence from the state crime lab, the Wagoner County District Attorney's Office moved forward with charges against Shiloh Brafford.
I suppose it is possible that he had a fall she was unaware of. I wonder what "additional evidence" the crime lab found to make them think it was non-accidental?
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