Baby faces permanent disabilities after dad assaulted her (Rock Island, Illinois)

Dad is identified as MATTHEW HOOVER.

http://kwqc.com/2015/03/13/baby-abused-faces-permanent-disability/

Baby abused faces permanent disability
By Tiffany Liou
Published: March 13, 2015, 6:26 pm | Updated: March 13, 2015, 9:03 pm

ROCK ISLAND, Ill. (KWQC) — Brylee Hoover, now 11 months old, was battered when she was an infant at four months.

Ashleigh Axnix, Brylee’s mother, says she left the house for a few minutes while taking her son to the bus stop. When she went back inside, she found Brylee unresponsive. Axnix says, “They told me she may not make it. She was hooked up to wires and I watched her have seizure after seizure after seizure.”

Brylee had skull fractures, broken ribs and shaken baby syndrome.

Axnix was asked to leave the hospital as Brylee’s case became a criminal investigation. Axnix in tears, “I promised her I would try to come back and I prayed and I prayed a lot that she could get better and that she would come home.”

That day in August 2014 when Axnix went outside for minutes, Brylee’s father, Matthew Hoover, was still inside. Axnix says, “One person that I trusted almost caused my daughter her life.”

The 29-year-old East Moline Man, Matthew Hoover, is now the prime suspect in the case. Hoover is behind bars and charged with aggravated battery to a child.

Axnix says she wants to know why someone would hurt an innocent child, but in the end what matters the most is that Brylee is still alive.

Brylee faces permanent brain damage. Axnix says she still has bleeding in her brain and that doctors have diagnosed Brylee with cerebral palsy. Axnix considers herself lucky that Brylee survived.

Axnix says child abuse is preventable and wants to warn other parents out there. “When you’re mad, it goes away in a couple minutes. In a couple minutes, you can alter a kids life substantially.”

Brylee’s case is one of many in the Quad Cities, where children are being abused or killed. The Child Abuse Council also wants to spread awareness about child abuse.

Angie Kendall of the Child Abuse Council says, “If you are finding yourself at a place where you are getting angry, take a five or ten minute break. That’s so much healthier than making a mistake that you can’t go back on.”

Kendall says if you have any suspicions of a child being abused, call the child abuse hotline in your state or call 9-1-1 if a child is in immediate danger. She says, “It is never a child’s responsibility to protect themselves. It should always be an adult’s responsibility to protect children.”

The Child Abuse Council is hosting their 12th annual conference next Thursday, March 19, 2015 at the Radisson Hotel in Davenport. The theme of the conference is prevention and building resiliency in families.