Friday, August 21, 2009

Dad shakes baby after "fight" with mom; baby has brain damage (San Antonio, Texas)

Still think that domestic violence and child abuse exist in separate silos? Maybe this case will change your mind. Dad GABRIEL ERON HALL was displeased because his girlfriend was kicking him out of her house (seeing what came later, I'm sure she had her reasons). So Dad takes out his anger on the baby and shook the 4-month-old boy violently. From what the father is quoted as saying, the shaking was clearly intended to be a retaliation against the mother. The baby is now hospitalized with bleeding in the brain and a swollen cranium.

http://www.kens5.com/news/stories/KENS20090821-CHILDINJURYARREST.100090579.html

Police: Father caused brain damage to infant after fight with girlfriend
08:58 AM CDT on Friday, August 21, 2009
Marvin Hurst / KENS 5

A father's fury over being kicked out of his girlfriend's house ended with the couple's four-month-old infant son in the hospital suffering from brain damage, according to police.

Gabriel Eron Hall, 20, is charged with injury to a child. He's being held in lieu of a $100,000 bond at the Bexar County Detention Center.

A police warrant said the child's mother and Hall were arguing over her decision to evict him from her home in the 5000 block of Meadow Rise on Wednesday. Police said she put the baby in a swing and left the room.

According to the warrant, while in the restroom the 27-year-old heard her son screaming. Investigators said when the boy's mother rushed back into the room, she couldn't believe her eyes. The arrest document alleges Hall was "violently shaking" their son back and forth as the child sat in the swing.

According to police, she pushed him out the way to stop the act. Hall allegedly said he had not shaken the baby that hard. The arrest warrant also stated Hall said "if he (the baby) was hurt, that is what he gets" for the woman being his mother.

The victim's aunt called SAPD. Officers noticed the infant was lethargic. They called EMS. The baby was rushed to University Hospital.

According to the warrant, the medical staff said a CT scan revealed bleeding near the infant’s brain and a swollen cranium. The staff also reportedly found a previous internal head injury.
Hall was arrested. The baby's condition has not been released.