According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), shaken baby syndrome is the leading cause of child abuse deaths in the United States. The CDC also reported that babies under the age of 4 months are at the greatest risk of shaken baby syndrome.
A father in Phoenix was recently arrested in the death of his 4 month old daughter. Police arrested the man on one count of second degree murder and two counts of child abuse. The baby’s mother brought her to Phoenix Children’s Hospital after realizing something was wrong.
The father claimed that his daughter was sleeping on his chest, when she fell off of him and onto the floor. After seeing that she had been hurt he shook her “pretty hard” twice. The little girl died in Phoenix Children’s Hospital on July 22.
The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome reports that children are often shaken out of frustration or anger. This often happens when the baby continues to cry, has toilet training problems, or has trouble eating. Shaken baby syndrome is very dangerous and often fatal because a baby’s brain has not fully developed. When shaken baby syndrome occurs the baby’s brain moves back and forth inside the skull causes tears in the brain lining and often breaks blood vessels. As a result blood often gets into the brain which can be fatal.
If you have a lost a child to shaken baby syndrome due to the negligence of someone else such as a caregiver, please call the child injury attorneys in Arizona at (602) 267-1280, for a free consultation.
