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Young Oklahoma Couple Arrested After Toddler Dies In Their Custody

By Rahul Srinivas
Published on: 11:27 PST, Sep 10, 2017

A couple from Shawnee, Oklahoma has been arrested in connection with the death of a 2-year-old girl. According to local news station KWTV, the young couple were identified as 21-year-old Whitney Breslin and 22-year-old Cashe Graham. Both of them are under investigation for causing the death of 2-year-old Jamie Murdock who happened to be Whitney’s daughter.

According to officials from the Shawnee Police Department, they were first informed about the incident by Graham – now one of the suspects – who called 911 claiming that Jamie was having trouble breathing. When emergency responders reached the scene, they found the girl in an unresponsive state. After trying CPR, she was rushed to a local hospital where she was placed in a critical condition. As her condition continued to worsen over the weekend, she was shifted to another hospital where she died on Saturday. According to the doctors who were treating Jamie, there were visible injury marks and bruises on her body. Jamie also had severe swelling on the head and there were signs of internal bleeding and brain injury. However, both the suspects have denied any wrongdoing and said they were not aware how the Jamie sustained the life-threatening injuries.

Meanwhile, Detective Jason Crouch of the Shawnee Police Department revealed that the girl was hospitalized twice in a short span of 30 days with similar injuries. On two occasions, she was hospitalized with head injuries which the parents claimed were sustained during two separate incidents. The couple claimed that Jamie had a tendency to sleepwalk and that both the earlier injuries were sustained when the child fell during sleepwalking. The doctors, however, had a different story to tell and told investigating officers that the toddler had injuries consistent with that of a “non-accidental abusive head trauma.” On the day of the incident too, the suspects claimed that they were not aware what happened.

“According to the suspect’s’ story, they went in to check on her and she was having trouble breathing. Mom and boyfriend said that she is a sleepwalker and that she falls down, but the doctors don’t think that’s the case,” said Crouch.

The suspicious nature of Jamie’s injuries and the fact that she was hospitalized twice earlier eventually led to the couple being arrested on suspicion of being behind the injuries. In another shocking twist, the 2-year-old had significant traces of marijuana inside her body. According to doctors, the amount was high enough for them to conclude that she had ingested the drug and that it was not a case of secondhand smoke. The couple has also admitted to keeping marijuana in their home.

Both the suspects are being held in the Pottawatomie County Jail pending first-degree murder charges, the jail’s website confirmed.

[Featured Image by Shawnee Police Department]

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