Cyrous Baker (Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office).
Police in Indiana have arrested a man who allegedly inflicted severe head injuries on a toddler, bringing attention to a harrowing case of child abuse. The suspect now faces serious charges.
Identified as Cyrous Baker, the suspect faces one charge of neglect of a dependent along with two counts of domestic battery by an adult on a family member under 14, as outlined by the Evansville Police Department’s recent announcement.
The troubling case came to light in February when the young victim was admitted to the emergency room, suffering from a range of distressing symptoms, according to law enforcement officials.
Court documents, referenced by Evansville’s ABC affiliate WEHT, revealed that the 3-year-old girl exhibited signs of a headache, extreme lethargy, and alarming bruising on both ears during her hospital visit.
Doctors found even more problems, law enforcement said.
A CT scan revealed the girl had a broken skull and bleeding near the surface of her brain, according to the court documents. A follow-up MRI determined she also had bruising on her brain, police said.
The girl was then transferred to Norton Children’s Hospital in Louisville, Kentucky, for specialist care.
On Feb. 27, a man who was supposed to pick up the girl and other children for a weekend visit — and would later end up bringing the girl to the hospital — was asked to come over early, according to law enforcement, because the child’s mother noticed some injuries and wanted the man to evaluate the situation.
The man arrived at the mother’s residence, located on Stringtown Road in Evansville, and talked with the mother about the girl’s symptoms, according to the charging document.
The mother said she noticed the girl had trouble staying awake and did not have an appetite, police said. When questioned about what happened to her or how she might have gotten hurt, the toddler said a ghost sneaked into her room and squeezed her until she could not breathe, according to law enforcement.
So, the man took the girl to a different location and watched her for a few hours, police said. When the child’s condition did not improve, the man and another adult took her to the first hospital.
The girl’s mother told the man she had worked the evening before and left the children with Baker, according to the court documents.
Eventually, child welfare agents were contacted, which resulted in other children living in the same residence being medically evaluated, police said. Those children were also admitted to the hospital where doctors noted bruises on the neck of a 4-year-old, according to law enforcement.
Police spoke with the 4-year-old, who said they no longer lived with Baker because he squeezed their necks and that the little girl was in the hospital because of such injuries, according to court documents.
During interviews with the girl’s mother and the defendant, two different narratives of the night emerged, police said.
The mother said the children were still awake and watching television when she left for work, according to court documents. Baker, on the other hand, allegedly told police the mother helped him put the 4-year-old and 3-year-old to bed, police said.
The defendant was arrested and booked in the Vanderburgh County Jail. He is not currently being detained, records show.
The post Man arrested after 3-year-old with injured skull said ghost came into her room and squeezed her until she could not breathe: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.