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A 20-year-old man in Ohio was arrested last week after authorities say he nearly killed his newborn son, allegedly slamming the 16-day-old boy’s head into the headboard of his bed, causing multiple injuries including a fractured skull.
Dezmond Wallace was taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count of felonious assault and one count of endangering children, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a news release from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office, deputies with the office’s Investigative Unit at about 1:15 p.m. on Dec. 8 responded to a call from someone at Clermont County Children’s Protective Services who reported that a 2-week-old male child had been admitted to Cincinnati’s Children’s Hospital with a suspicious spate of injuries.
The child’s mother, whom authorities did not identify, allegedly brought him to the hospital for “treatment of symptoms that presented to be an eye infection,” but upon further examination, the hospital staff discovered that the boy had also suffered a fractured skull, injuries to his mouth and visible bruising to his arms and legs. The boy was immediately admitted to the hospital for additional treatment.
Dezmond Wallace (Clermont County Sheriff’s Office)
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“Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Social Service Staff contacted Clermont County Children’s Protective Services, who immediately contacted the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office to begin an investigation,” the release states. “Physicians at Children’s Hospital determined the injuries sustained by the child were non-accidental and a result of recent trauma.”
Upon arriving at Children’s Hospital, detectives sat down for voluntary interviews with the newborn’s mother and father “in an attempt to determine the cause of the child’s injuries.”
“After speaking to both parents, it was determined that the child received his injuries at their residence located in the Crown Station Apartments in Batavia Township, [Ohio],” the sheriff’s office said. “Dezmond Wallace, the child’s father, was cooperative and admitted to detectives he was responsible for the injuries to his child, which were sustained on the morning of December 6, 2023.”
Sheriff’s detectives executed a search warrant on the home, which is about 20 miles east of Cincinnati, where they collected evidence and processed the scene.
According to a report from Cincinnati ABC affiliate WCPO, Wallace appeared in Clermont County Municipal Court on Monday morning for his arraignment. During the proceeding, prosecutors told the court that in his interview with detectives, Wallace allegedly confessed that on the morning of Dec. 6, he threw his newborn son against the headboard of his bed, which is how the child sustained his injuries.
The judge ordered Wallace to remain in detention on $1 million bond and prohibited him from having any contact with the victim. He is scheduled to make his next appearance in court on Dec. 18.
