A troubling incident in Kansas has left a community reeling as a 1-year-old girl sustained critical injuries in a situation her caretaker described as a tragic accident. The caretaker, Kevin Mitchell, 30, is now facing child abuse charges after he reportedly “swung” the infant, causing her to “fly” from his arms and suffer a severe head injury.

Mitchell is currently being held in the Sedgwick County Jail, with bail set at $75,000, as indicated by jail records. His incarceration began on December 17, following the incident that has now come to light with new details emerging.

The unsettling events unfolded on December 16 at a residence located on the 5500 block of South Handley Street in Wichita. According to a criminal affidavit submitted to the Sedgwick County district court, Mitchell was entrusted with the care of three young children, aged 2 years, 1 year, and 6 months, while their mother was away donating plasma.

In a moment that turned tragic, Mitchell reportedly spun around with the 1-year-old in his arms, tripped on a bed, and fell, causing the child to be flung toward a wall. As cited in the affidavit reviewed by Law&Crime, the girl landed on the floor, and Mitchell, upon picking her up, observed that she was not breathing normally, prompting immediate concern.

At some point, the defendant was “spinning” with the 1-year-old girl in his arms when he “tripped on the bed,” fell onto it, and the girl “‘flew’ out of his arms toward the wall,” the court document reviewed by Law&Crime states. The child landed on the floor, and when he picked her up, he “noticed she was not breathing normally,” the affidavit said.

After a failed attempt of blowing “into her nose and then mouth to try to help her,” Mitchell brought the child to his mother — who also apparently lived in the home — and she told him to call 911.

First responders arrived at the scene at about 5:30 p.m., with a captain of the Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Services contacting the Wichita Police Department “since this did not appear to be a medical issue.” Detectives arrived to find the child “in the living room, on her back on top of the couch unresponsive,” police said. Her eyes were “fixed and dilated and did not respond to light.”

Mitchell told authorities that he had been “playing” with the child, but he denied that she had hit her head and said he did not know if she had fallen, the affidavit states. When the EMS captain took the child to the ambulance, “he observed a bruise on her left temple.”

The infant was also found to have had bruises on her left leg, stomach, and chest. She was placed in the pediatric intensive care unit of a nearby hospital in “extremely critical condition.”

Detectives continued investigating what happened, and they spoke to the child’s mother. She reportedly admitted to spanking her 1-year-old daughter and said that when she “must” physically discipline her kids, she “usually just slaps them with an open hand on the thigh.”

The woman also said that she once saw Mitchell discipline the infant “by grabbing her face around her mouth when she was not behaving.” The mother’s name was redacted from the document, and there was no indication she was or will be charged in the case.

Investigators also spoke with Mitchell several times. He allegedly admitted that the child victim was “acting normally” before he began “swinging” her around — and though he initially claimed ignorance as to how she hurt her head, he ultimately told officers about how she “flew” out of his arms and “struck her head on the windowsill/shelf.”

Mitchell is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 2.