GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A man and woman from north Florida were arrested Tuesday after a 4-month-old baby boy was hospitalized with severe injuries, including a brain bleed.
Gainesville ABC affiliate WCJB reported Wednesday that the baby was fighting for his life.
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Citing a Gainesville police arrest report, the station reports that Emma Smithey, 19, took her infant to Shands Pediatric Hospital on Tuesday, after the infant had apparently been suffering for days.
The baby had significant bruising, brain bleeding, hemorrhaging to his left eye and blood in his diaper, according to police.
Timothy Smith, 22, told officers that on Dec. 31, he accidentally knocked the crying baby’s head against a doorframe while trying to calm him down, WCJB reports.
Police said he also told officers that he choked the baby the day prior in order to get him to stop crying.
The station reports that Smith also dropped the child from a “large height” into a bassinet.
The station’s report doesn’t specify the relationship between Smith and the infant or Smith and Smithey.
Smithey changed her story multiple times when speaking with investigators, contradicting Smith’s account of the incident, according to WCJB.
Officials say it’s unclear whether the baby will survive.
Authorities arrested Smith on charges of aggravated child abuse and child neglect and arrested Smithey on a child neglect charge.
Both were booked into the Alachua County Jail.