• You must be logged in to see or use the Shoutbox. Besides, if you haven't registered, you really should. It's quick and it will make your life a little better. Trust me. So just register and make yourself at home with like-minded individuals who share either your morbid curiousity or sense of gallows humor.

Sugar Cookie

Veteran Member
Bold Member!
Williston Police say a woman accused of severely injuring a 2-month-old baby in her care in November has been arrested in Montana.

Police say on Nov. 6, 2018 the parents of the baby dropped her off at the home of 23-year-old Corey Gardner, who was providing unlicensed daycare services. When the baby's parents picked her up from daycare, officers say the baby was unresponsive and had to be taken to a Bismarck hospital due to respiratory issues and seizures.

Court documents show the child was transferred to the Children's Critical Care Unit in Sioux Falls South Dakota, where staff determined the baby had sustained bone fractures, swelling of the skull, lack of oxygen to the brain, bleeding in her brain, ligament strains near her spine and retinal hemorrhages.

Police say Gardner told them the baby had a cold and was fussy, and while doing "tummy time" the baby started screaming. Gardner told police she put the baby down for a nap in her room and denied any accidental trauma.

Law enforcement officers say 10 days after the baby was injured, the Gardners broke their lease and left town.

Police say the child is recovering.
14752
 
A baby has made a remarkable recovery after she suffered a fractured skull, hemorrhages in both eyes, a broken arm, spinal strains and injuries to her brain, KVLY reported.

Baby Finley had only been going to the home daycare of Corey Gardner, 22, for about three weeks when her parents picked her up Nov. 6, 2018, and noticed something was wrong.

“She was really unresponsive. She wouldn’t open her eyes. She was letting her arms and legs hang limp,” Ashley Campion, Finley’s mom said.

Campion and her husband, Mike, rushed to a Williston hospital where doctors immediately started life-saving measures. As seizures overtook the infant, baby Finley was soon flown to a Bismarck hospital.

After three days of testing, doctors did a CT scan.

"And that's when we started learning how severe Finley's injuries were and how scary they were," Campion said.

Finding a fractured skull, Finley was flown again — this time to Sanford Children’s Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D.

“We were in life-saving mode — life-saving, not life-preserving, for a good portion of the first couple weeks. We didn’t know if they were would be able to save her life,” Campion said.

“It was eerie because you’re sitting on an ICU unit where little babies are crying and calling out for their families, and then you walked into Finley’s room and it was silent,” said Shauna Erickson, Finley’s aunt.

Doctors also found a broken arm, hemorrhaging of both eyes, spinal strains and injuries to Finley’s brain — all determined to be non-accidental.

"At the time it was said that she may not see, may not hear, may not walk, may not talk. There was really a lot of unknowns about what she would do at that point," Campion said.

"It got very difficult to be positive because things looked grimmer and grimmer everyday. There weren't the signs of progress that we were told there would be, and more intense and invasive procedures were having to happen to this helpless little girl," Erickson said.

After weeks of heavy doses of pain medication and fluid drained from her brain, Finley finally seemed to be making progress.

Finley continues to work weekly with her physical therapist, occupational therapist and speech therapist.

“She is hitting milestones that no one really thought she would hit, and it’s unbelievable,” Campion said.

“She’s ahead of developmental trajectory, which just flashes to me miracle. This is a miracle,” Erickson said.

One organization plans to celebrate miraculous Finley just days before her first birthday with a fundraiser event.

“It takes me back that people want to take time out of their schedule and put so much intention and energy into helping a little girl and her family. And I think that’s just so representative of the community we have in Fargo and the kindness and the goodness of the people around us,” Erickson said.

“We are at a one-year birthday and Finley’s going to be running around in a little tutu dress being a little ball of fire,” Campion said.
21023
 
It's very likely I'm either dense or naive, but isn't two months a bit early for tummy time? Considering at that age, a little's neck muscles aren't quite developed enough to support an unproportionately large head?
 
Dec. 8, 2022



A former Williston daycare provider was found guilty five months ago of harming a baby. On Thursday, she was in court for sentencing.

In March of 2019, Corey Gardner, an unlicensed daycare provider, was arrested for child abuse. Police say a two-
month-old baby in her care had sustained several injuries including brain bleeding, lack of oxygen to the brain and bone fractures. A jury found Gardner guilty in July, pushing assistant state’s attorney Nathan Madden to request the maximum sentence of 10 years.

“She sentenced [the baby] to a lifetime of issues and complications that will stem from this,” said Madden.

Gardner’s attorney, Steven Mottinger argued that the maximum is too much, calling Gardner “a good citizen and a great mother.” In a brief statement, Gardner apologized to the family, but did not claim guilt.

“I’m not asking for forgiveness, but I want them to know that I always cared, regardless of what they think,” said Gardner.

Judge Paul Jacobson agreed with Madden that Gardner’s actions were a “gross violation of trust,” but also sided with Mottinger on the sentence. Gardner was ordered to serve 6 years in prison with 5 years of probation.

Gardner will also have to pay restitution to the family and register as an “Offender Against Children.”

Gardner, Mottinger and Madden said that the two-month-old baby is making a remarkable recovery and are thankful for it
 
Back
Top