A 5-month-old infant died days after he was taken to the hospital for severe brain injuries. The mother and two caretakers were charged, Texas cops said. Photo by Getty Images This is a stock image downloaded from Getty Images. It is a Royalty Free image.
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A 5-month-old infant died days after arriving at a Texas hospital with severe brain injuries, according to news outlets. Three people are accused of causing the injuries, police said in a news release.
Hospital staff reported possible child abuse on May 8 when the child arrived, police said. He died five days later on May 13.
The child was suffering from a brain bleed and skull fracture, KCBD reported.
Kristal Morse, 22, and Casey Harbison, 23, were charged with aggravated assault and 43-year-old Tiffany Whalen was charged with injury to a child, Lubbock police said.Whalen is reportedly the child’s mother, according to local news outlets.
Morse and Harbison initially said the child was not injured on purpose, according to court documents, but then they both told police they had punched the child while Whalen was in the room, KCBD reported.
Harbison also told police he had suffocated the child with a blanket saying, “It was an accident,” according to an affidavit obtained by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal. “I never wanted to hurt him. There will be no next time regardless.”
Both Morse and Harbison had been living with Whalen because they fled Washington state after they were investigated by Child Protective Services for neglecting a child, according to KCBD.
The case is still under investigation and additional charges are possible, according to police.
Kate Linderman
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