Toddler dies 3 years after being shaken by father (Kalamazoo, Michigan)

A 3-year-old boy has died three years after being violently shaken by his father, ANDREW DAMARR MORRIS. Seems Daddy was "watching over him" when the baby developed severe head trauma and other injuries. The child was left with pronounced disabilities. Dad is currently in prison and will not face new charges.

It's nice that the mother is trying to educate new mothers, but in reality, moms are at very low risk of shaking the baby. Research consistently shows that the vast majority of perpetrators are fathers, followed by boyfriends/stepdads and babysitters.

http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/07/kalamazoo_toddler_shaken_as_ba.html

Kalamazoo toddler shaken as baby dies; mother seeks to teach others of dangers
Published: Friday, July 09, 2010, 7:15 AM
Rex Hall Jr. Kalamazoo Gazette

KALAMAZOO — A Kalamazoo toddler who suffered severe head injuries more than three years ago at the hands of his father died Monday after having a seizure.

Kendrell “Boo” Morris was 3 years old.

Kendrell was hospitalized several times in his short life and on March 16, 2007 “was shaken by the person that was to watch over him,” according to an obituary published Thursday by his family in the Kalamazoo Gazette.

The boy, who was born in October 2006, was found to have suffered “severe internal head trauma with active bleeding on the brain” after his mother, Candis D. Blauer, found him unresponsive in his bed, Kalamazoo County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Carrie Klein said. Kendrell also had multiple broken ribs that were old and new, Klein said.

Kendrell’s father, Andrew Damarr Morris, then 29, pleaded guilty in September 2007 to a charge of second-degree child abuse and was sentenced in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court to four to eight years in prison, Klein said.

Klein said it is unlikely that prosecutors will seek new charges against Andrew Morris in the wake of Kendrell’s death.

“It would be difficult to prove the direct link between his actions and the death,” Klein said. “Given the amount of time and having to draw a clean line between those two things, it would be pretty hard.”

Kendrell attended Croyden School in Kalamazoo. His mother used to take him with her to talk to teen mothers and school teachers about the dangers of shaking a baby, Blauer said Thursday.

“My main point was to show them how fragile a child is,” Blauer said. “If you’re angry, your child is the last person you should take it out with.”

Kendrell couldn’t walk or talk and he was visually impaired as a result of his injuries, his mother said. But he overcame odds and learned to roll and eat some foods without a feeding tube.

Visitation for Kendrell is scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday followed by an 11 a.m. service at Whitley Memorial Funeral Home in Kalamazoo.

Blauer said fundraiser car washes will be held July 17-18 at Little Darlings, 1336 Ravine Road. Half of the proceeds will go to the National Shaken Baby Coalition in Illinois and the rest of the money will help to offset funeral expenses, Blauer said.