Dad jailed without bail in murder of 3-month-old daughter (Shawnee, Oklahoma)

Dad STEVEN H. TRAMMELL has been jailed without bail on a murder complaint involving his 3-month-old daughter. The baby apparently died from a skull fracture and abusive head trauma while under Daddy's "care."

http://www.news-star.com/news/police_and_fire/x1738889653/Medical-examiner-determines-Tecumseh-baby-s-cause-of-death

Medical examiner determines Tecumseh baby’s cause of death

By Kim Morava
kimberly.morava@news-star.com
Posted Jan 10, 2011 @ 10:45 PM

SHAWNEE, Okla. — The state medical examiner’s office has determined cause of death for a 3-month-old Tecumseh baby who died last week in a suspected child abuse case.

Cherokee Ballard, spokeswoman for the office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said Monday that pathologists determined Lydia Trammell’s cause of death was blunt force head trauma. The manner of death is still listed as pending for further review, Ballard said.

Lydia was hospitalized last week and died late Thursday night at Children’s Hospital in Oklahoma City, law enforcement authorities said.

Earlier that same evening, police had arrested her father, Steven H. Trammell, 33, on a complaint of child abuse, said Tecumseh Assistant Police Chief J.R. Kidney.

Because the child died, Trammell is now being held in the Pottawatomie County Public Safety Center without bail on a murder complaint. The case remains under investigation and formal charges have not been filed. Trammell’s next court date is scheduled Friday.

Kidney’s arrest affidavit for the case shows doctors determined the child had a skull fracture and leg injuries — two broken tibias and a broken femur.

Kidney reported the investigation began when the Tecumseh Police Department received a call about 11 a.m. Thursday from Children’s Hospital doctors reporting a “severe case of child abuse” from the Tecumseh area, Kidney said.

An investigation, which continued all day and into the evening Thursday, led to the father’s arrest.

Kidney said the probe indicates the child’s mother, who had gone to the store to get diapers, returned home Wednesday night to find Trammell on the floor using a suction bulb to clear the baby’s mouth. He said both parents took the girl about 7 p.m. Wednesday to Unity Health Center with respiratory distress and she was transferred by ambulance to Children’s Hospital.

During the investigation, the child’s mother, Sandra Trammell, reported she had no idea what could have happened to the baby, the affidavit states. It also shows the father later told police the child had bumped her head in the bathtub on Tuesday.

Prior to going to the hospital Wednesday night, Lydia had been seen by a doctor Tuesday for an ear infection, the affidavit shows. She was later taken to Unity because she was acting as if she had a stomach ache. The diagnosis was that the baby had colic, according to the affidavit.