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Marietta Mom Shook Her 10-Month-Old Baby To Death, Refused To Get Medical Help Until It Was Too Late

By Lawrence Arboleda
Published on: 23:38 PST, Aug 23, 2017

A Marietta mom shook her 10-month-old daughter so hard it caused the infant to lose control of her limbs before dying of brain damage, the police said.

Sadai Higgenbotham has been sent to jail for felony murder charges following the death of her daughter Laura. Jail records show that Laura’s name is tattooed on her mother’s right leg.

Criminal warrants show that Higgenbotham shook her baby daughter on August 5 around 5 p.m. at her Collingwood Drive home in Marietta. Police did not say what caused the mother to shake her daughter violently, 11 Alive reports.

According to investigators, Higgenbotham was already aware something was wrong with her child but refused to immediately bring her to a clinic or hospital for medical treatment. Her home is less than a mile away from the nearest hospital.

When she finally decided to take her infant to the hospital, the medical staff discovered symptoms of shaken baby syndrome and told the police the child’s injuries appeared to be more than a day old, the warrant said. The police arrived at the WellStar Urgent Care on Delk Road to find the unconscious infant being given CPR, said Cobb officer Alicia Chilton, as previously reported by AJC.

The police department refused to release the arrest report, citing public records laws concerning child abuse.

In critical condition, the infant was taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite, said Chilton. The girl died on August 8. The police ruled the cause of death to be blunt force trauma to the head, which caused blood to pool between the baby’s brain and skull.

After the investigation, Higgenbotham was charged and arrested for aggravated battery and first degree child cruelty. They charged her with felony murder following the infant’s death.

During the investigation, the police also arrested Sidrick Melancon for allegedly telling Higgenbotham to lie to the police about what happened to her infant. Melancon was charged for two felony counts of influencing a witness. He was also discovered to be listed as a fugitive out of Louisiana.

Police said that Melancon and Higgenbotham are living in the same apartment complex near Interstate 75, though it’s unclear if they lived together.

[Featured Image by Kittiphongmt12/Shutterstock]

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