OPA-LOCKA, Fla. – Less than two weeks after she was born, two South Florida parents took their baby girl to the hospital with a bruised right ankle, but X-rays turned up more troubling injuries indicating “severe physical abuse,” according to investigators.
Jameelah Lakendra Cosper, 23, of Miami Gardens, and Giovani Jose Garces, 26, of Opa-locka, are now facing felony counts of aggravated child abuse and child neglect causing great bodily harm.
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An arrest report from the Opa-locka Police Department states that the pair took the baby girl, born on Jan. 15, to Hialeah Hospital on Jan. 28 after “realizing that (her) right ankle was bruised.”
Doctors at the hospital found the girl had a fractured right ankle, leading them to send her to Nicklaus Children’s Hospital for further evaluation, police said.
According to police, a “more in-depth X-ray” revealed another serious injury: a fractured skull. That led hospital staff to suspect child abuse and to call police and the Florida Department of Children and Families.
The DCF placed the newborn in the care of her aunt, police said, as the investigation continued.
Garces’ initial statement to police was redacted from the arrest report. Police said on Feb. 6, OLPD investigators conducted a search warrant of his apartment on Northwest 30th Avenue and took multiple crime scene photos.
Police said on Feb. 12, they received a medical evaluation from Dr. Walter Lambert, who leads the University of Miami Child Protection Team:
“Two-week-old baby girl with a left-sided complex parietal skull fracture with associated extra-axial hemorrhage as well as healing fractures of the right distal tibia and fibula. The father provided a history of a fall from his arms while bathing his daughter the day before the baby was taken to Hialeah Hospital; the mother did not provide Hialeah Hospital ER any specific history of trauma, including this reported fall from the father’s arms. It is also worrisome that the parents did not seek prompt medical attention after the fall from the father’s arms. Neither parent provided a specific injury event to explain the leg fractures. In my medical opinion, these injuries represent severe physical abuse.”
Dr. Walter Lambert, University of Miami Child Protection Team (excerpt from arrest report)
Authorities arrested Garces on Friday and arrested Cosper on Monday.
Both parents remained held without bond in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center as of Tuesday afternoon.