Infant Suffers Severe Brain Injury After Babysitter Loses Temper

A babysitter severely beat a 10-week-old infant, inflicting extensive bleeding on the child’s brain and eyes. The infant, a twin girl, born on May 22, was rushed to Cleveland MetroHealth Medical Center after her mother returned home from work.

Samaje Humphries, 21, was arrested on second-degree felony charges of felonious assault and child endangering, according to Sandusky Police, in Ohio. Humphries admitted he got frustrated with the child and roughed her up.

When the mother returned home from work, she found the baby breathing sporadically and at times, not at all, according to Sandusky Police Detective, Jon Huffman.

Detective Huffman briefly explained the mother’s shocking discovery.

“The mom knew something was wrong as soon as she saw the child. She got off work, came home, and immediately realized something was not right with her baby.”

The medical staff later informed Sandusky police that the babysitter caused hemorrhaging on the infant’s brain and behind the eyes.

Doctors said, “The baby will most likely be blind and/or have brain damage, or could pass away from her injuries,” according to a police report.

It appears the babysitter did not inflict any external injuries to the poor child, however, according to a report by the Sandusky Register, doctors found that the twin baby girl suffered from inflicted traumatic brain injury — a condition sometimes referred to as shaken baby syndrome.

Detectives learned that Humphries had been babysitting the girl, her twin sister, and her two elder siblings (ages four and 6) for about three weeks while their mother worked at her nighttime job. In exchange for watching the children, Humphries, the mother’s ex-boyfriend, was allowed to stay at the home.

Initially, Humphries denied injuring the girl when he first spoke to police. Eventually, “he admitted to losing his temper and that he could have hurt the victim, but didn’t mean it,” the police report stated.

Two older siblings said they witnessed Humphries getting rough with the baby while she was making a fuss.

Detective Huffman commented about the dreadful incident.

“He admitted being rough with the baby and being frustrated. Then he said he blacked out. One of the (siblings) said at one point, (Humphries) did throw the baby on the couch. This was not an ‘oops, I dropped the child’ situation — It was not accidental.”

After investigating the baby’s injuries, it was determined that they were likely caused by criminal behavior. As a precautionary measure, Children Services took the rest of the children in the household into emergency custody.

Detectives do not believe the mother was involved in the child’s injuries; her alibi was corroborated. She also immediately kicked the so-called babysitter out of her home when she realized what had allegedly been done.

Samaje Humphries is being held at the Erie County jail on a $40,000 bond.

The infant is in the care of Cleveland Metro. Detective Huffman said the baby was having many seizures because of her brain injury, but fortunately, the young child has begun breathing on her own again.

Detective Huffman said the little girl was finally able to move her arm a little bit, adding, “She’s as stable as she can be. We’re going to have to go day-by-day, hour-by-hour.”

[Featured image via Wride]