Dad abuses 6-week-old son of a Friday; doesn't take him to the hospital till Sunday--he barbeques instead (Fayetteville, Arkansas)

Dad JAMES KING apparently abused his son on a Friday by shaking him--seriously enough to cause bleeding from the brain and spinal cord--but didn't bother to take him to the hospital till Sunday. It seems he was too busy doing a barbeque on Saturday to bother. Guess it took him two days to notice that the baby wasn't eating and acting strange. Or even having seizures, for gawd's sake. Dad is charged with first-degree battery.

Meanwhile, where is the mom in all this? Was dad babysitting for two whole days? Or was this a weekend visitation arrangement? If so, what moronic judge would agree to weekend visitations for a newborn? Or did Dad have custody? Wish reporters would follow up on the obvious question in all this: just how and why did Dad have access to this injured child for nearly three days with no mom around to intervene?

http://www.4029tv.com/news/20712886/detail.html

Father Arrested, Accused Of Abusing 6-Week-Old Son
Police: Father Waited 2 Days To Bring Baby To Hospital
POSTED: 5:21 pm CDT September 3, 2009
UPDATED: 6:03 pm CDT September 3, 2009

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. -- A 6-week-old boy is bleeding from the brain and spinal cord, and Fayetteville police said the boy's father, James King, 31, is to blame.

According to the police report, King told police that his son fell off the bed inside his Fayetteville apartment at the Club at the Creek complex on Sycamore. But police said the child's injuries were much more severe than what would have been caused by a short fall.

"It just doesn't make sense to do something like that to a little kid," said Shane Rutherford, who lives in the apartment next to King's apartment.

Police said King's 6-week-old son was taken to Children's Hospital in Little Rock on Sunday, bleeding from the brain and spinal cord.

"He's in serious condition. Any young child 6 weeks old who has these types of injuries is very serious," said Sgt. Bill Phelan with the Fayetteville Police Department.

But police said those injuries were sustained at King's apartment on Friday -- two days before King took his son to the hospital.

"After that, he noticed his child wasn't eating, was acting strange, it even had a seizure, so he took his child to the hospital," Phelan said.

"It turns your stomach to think that he waited that long to take him to the hospital," Rutherford said.

But what really bothered Rutherford was what King had been doing in the interim.

"He was out here barbecuing on Saturday while whatever happened. I guess he didn't figure it was important enough," Rutherford said.

King told police his son fell out of bed, but admitted to shaking the baby to get a response from him after that happened. He was then arrested and put behind bars.

"Where he's at right now is where he deserves to be," Rutherford said.

King is facing charges of first-degree battery, which is a felony.

Another local man is facing even more serious charges of child abuse.

A Delaware County, Okla., man accused of killing his girlfriend's daughter has been charged with murder.

An affidavit stated that Roger Dry told police he spanked and shook the 2-year-old because she wouldn't stop crying. The child died Tuesday at a Tulsa hospital.

Dry is being held on $1 million bond.