Police: Baby beaten by father dies (Beaumont, Texas)

Some of this account is not very clear, but it appears that the mother and father did not live together, as it mention the mother leaving the baby with the father "at a home" with a particular address.

So was this an informal babysitting arrangement? Court-ordered custody/visitation with a known violent abuser? Obviously not clarified here. Even if this was not court-ordered contact, it speaks to the pressure that single mothers are under to work, find affordable childcare, and "involve" the freaking father--who more often than not is a useless and violent deadbeat who never was husband or father material.

Dad is identified as SHAQUILLE RAWLINS.

http://www.12newsnow.com/story/23429086/child-abuse-case-beaumont-baby-suffers-skull-fractures

UPDATE: Baby police say beaten by her father dies

Posted: Sep 13, 2013 7:24 PM EDT
Updated: Sep 14, 2013 7:33 PM EDT

By Vanessa Holmes, Reporter

BEAUMONT - Shari Pulliam with Family and Protective Services said a toddler who police say was severely injured by her father died Saturday around 1:24 p.m. at Texas Children's Hospital.

The child's father, identified as Shaquille Rawlins, 20, is already facing an injury to a child charge. He was brought to the Jefferson County jail where he is held on a $25,000 bond.

According to police, the child's mother left the baby with Rawlins Thursday at a home in the 4500 block of Buffalo Avenue. When she returned, she couldn't wake her baby.

"When we arrived, she told us the father had left while she was calling 9-1-1. He returned while we were at the scene. He came to the station and gave a statement," said Sgt. Rob Flores.

That statement was enough for police to arrest Rawlins.

The toddler, just 1 1/2 years old, was rushed to Christus Hospital Saint Elizabeth and then quickly sent to Texas Children's Hospital in Houston where she remains in critical condition.

"Doctors in the emergency room confirmed the baby had multiple skull fractures and multiple abrasions to her body," said Sgt. Flores.

Sitting on a porch near the home where the criminal allegations happened, Theresa McCelland was shocked after hearing about the abuse on the news.

"I was just speechless to all these things going on in this world today with the kids," she told 12News.

McCelland says parents should be the protectors of their children.

"They're supposed to give them love and peace and understanding and raise them right," she said.