HOLIDAY — A 7-week-old infant had to undergo emergency surgery after suffering a skull fracture at the hands of a caretaker, authorities said.
The baby's Jan. 22 injury left him with a dent in his head above his right eye. Surgeons at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg removed a damaged portion of his skull, according to the Pasco County Sheriff's Office.
The baby's caretaker, Tristan K. Fields, 24, told investigators the baby "threw himself backwards" while in Fields' arms and fell to the floor. Fields tried to "use his leg to break the victim's fall and the child struck the tip of his left shoe," a report states. But Fields wore soft shoes and it would take a hard object to cause the baby's injury, the report states.
A doctor told the Sheriff's Office an infant of that age "would not have developed the ability (to) throw himself as stated by the defendant," authorities said.
Fields, of 3448 Plaza Drive in Holiday, was arrested Friday and charged with aggravated child abuse causing permanent disability.
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