An Indiana dad faces serious prison time, while his 3-month-old daughter is lucky to be alive after suffering many “near fatal” injuries, according to Hoosier State authorities.
Kyle James Lawson, 28, faces two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury, according to criminal records filed in Shelby County on Wednesday.
Police believe the infant was nearly killed after being shaken by her father. Meanwhile, the defendant claims to have experienced a memory lapse.
On July 13, law enforcement became involved.
Lawson contacted 911 to report his infant girl’s unresponsiveness, according to court documents obtained by Indianapolis-based Fox station WXIN.
The infant was initially transported to a hospital but was later airlifted to a children’s hospital in Indianapolis owing to the severity of the injuries, which officials described as “a likely brain injury.”
According to the TV station, doctors at the children’s hospital later diagnosed the infant with 18 rib fractures, all of which were in various stages of healing, a left leg fracture, a fractured finger on her left hand, blood collecting outside her brain on both sides of her head, and blood on three spots in her spine.
“(The infant’s) constellation of injuries is diagnostic of abusive head trauma,” a doctor’s report cited by police states. “(The infant) had been hurt several times in the weeks leading up to her near-fatal episode, as demonstrated by previous bruising, subconjunctival hemorrhages, and multiple mending fractures on first X-rays. (The newborn) was harmed again in the minutes to hours preceding the near-fatal event, as demonstrated by the clinical history of an infant at her normal baseline who then had a rapid respiratory arrest in the setting of head trauma.”
The defendant was noncommittal about the injuries from the beginning, telling physicians, “Maybe I shook her, I don’t know.”
During the subsequent investigation, the child’s mother said Lawson never acknowledged injuring their daughter. The mother, however, apparently “did feel that some of his conversation was apologetic for his behavior, causing the injuries to the child,” according to police.
Nonetheless, authorities said they gathered more compelling evidence of the father’s alleged responsibility for what happened to the infant.
“Am I calling 911?” Lawson texted the girl’s mother minutes before making the call which most likely saved her life. “What the f— could have happened?”
The girl’s mother allegedly said, “I don’t like her breathing.”
The following day, Lawson allegedly blamed himself — again in texts.
“I’ll never forgive myself for what has happened,” he allegedly texted the child’s mother. “I’m not gonna stop fighting for our family.”
In yet another text conversation with a different family member, Lawson emphasized that he had not intended to damage the girl.
Police said surveillance footage eliminated the guesswork.
In videos included in the criminal paperwork, Lawson is accused of shaking the infant three times while she was on a changing table, giving the girl rescue breaths, and flipping her over by one of her legs.
A doctor at the children’s hospital was requested to review the film, and allegedly told police that it was similar to “the type of abusive behavior” that would be “expected to cause (the) near-fatal event.”
Lawson, for his part, told investigators he had no recollection of shaking his daughter, administering rescue breaths, or flipping her over.
In a follow-up interview, the defendant allegedly attempted to explain by telling police that he has “time blindness” as an ADHD symptom, adding that recent stress had resulted in blackouts.
The girl, who was all but miraculously alive, had been suffering from injuries for weeks, not just the “near-fatal event” that had landed her in the hospital. Regarding the past trauma, the defendant became more confident, allegedly saying to investigators he was “sure he did not cause the previous injuries.”
The Shelbyville Police Department detained Lawson on August 9. He was given a $50,005 surety bond. The defendant is scheduled to appear in court on October 16.