Caretaking dad beats 4-month-old to death; mom not at home (Smithfield, Virginia)

Caretaking dad SHAUN MICHAEL DIGBY beat up his four-month-old daughter while his wife, the baby's mother, was not at home. The baby died the next day of blunt force trauma resulting from the "massive head wounds" she had experienced. She also had a broken leg and broken ribs. There was evidence the baby had been injured before.

Police said they had been to the home on "domestic calls" during the past few years, but there was "no evidence of abuse." Perhaps the police didn't look very hard? It's not too hard to connect the dots here, folks.

http://www.wvec.com/news/topstories/stories/wvec_local_061009_smithfield_baby_death.6b1e5e8d.html

Smithfield father accused of killing infant daughter
07:29 AM EDT on Thursday, June 11, 2009

Reported by Kristina Rohall

SMITHFIELD - A Smithfield father is accused of killing his infant daughter.

Police say 27-year-old Shaun Michael Digby beat up his 4-month-old daughter, Alivia, inside their Lenora Cove home Friday morning. The child’s mother was not home at the time.

Paramedics air-lifted the little girl to CHKD, and doctors reportedly discovered she had broken ribs, a broken leg, and massive head wounds.

“There was blunt force trauma,” said Smithfield Police Chief Mark Marshall. “Either the child’s head was struck against something or the child’s head was struck by something.”

The infant died Saturday morning. Tuesday evening police officers arrested her father outside her viewing and charged him with first degree murder. Investigators said the baby’s injuries could not have been the result of an accident.

“Because they were so massive, they were so violent, there were so many of these fractures,” explained Chief Marshall.

Doctors also reportedly found older broken bones that were in the process of healing. Police said that could mean Alivia had been beaten up before.

“Obviously, it’s a four month old baby they weren’t self inflicted,” Marshall said. “It’s just, how could somebody have done that?”

Police said they have been to the Digby home dozens of times for domestic calls during the past few years. But Chief Marshall said there was no evidence of abuse.

The Digby family had no comment.