Attalla police bring murder charge in alleged 'shaken baby' case
A Christmas Eve call reporting a baby in distress ended in tragedy and a murder charge, according to Attalla Police Chief Dennis Walker.
The 4-month-old baby died from brain injuries doctors at Children's of Alabama in Birmingham attributed to "shaken baby syndrome," and the child's father, Adam Foster-Cleve Williamson, 34, was arrested Tuesday on a charge of murder, the chief said. He is being held in the Etowah County Detention Center on $200,000 bond.
Detective Kevan Carter said the call came in at 2:51 p.m. Christmas Eve, summoning medics to a Camp Sibert address where the 4-month-old was in breathing distress. The child was taken to Riverview Regional Medical Center, then by ambulance to Children's, where doctors determined the baby's injuries were the result of being shaken.
Within days, the child was dead, and the Department of Human Resources was called to investigate, along with Attalla police.
Walker said Williamson had been the sole caregiver for the infant and his two other young children at the time the baby is believed to have been injured. The children's parents are separated, the chief said, and the father had the children for Christmas.
Attalla police obtained information from doctors at Children's and the child's autopsy results, conducted interviews and were in contact with the Etowah County District Attorney's Office from Christmas Day forward as they investigated the incident. Their findings resulted in Williamson's arrest.
Walker said in researching "shaken baby syndrome," he found documentation that 1,000 children a year suffer permanent injuries from being shaken, and some 300 a year die from such treatment.
In some cases, he said, a parent gets angry or frustrated and picks up a child and shakes them. They may not intend serious harm, but can cause it regardless.
"You just can't shake a child," Walker said, without potential for serious injury.
Carter and Wallker said there were no indications of prior abuse with this infant, or the siblings. DHR remains involved in the case. "This appears to be an isolated incident," he said.
That was not the case in a pending case of aggravated child abuse investigated by Attalla police. In January 2020, a 21-month-old boy was taken to a local emergency room and transferred to Children's in what Chief Investigator Doug Jordan called "near death" condition.
Jose Morales-Calvo, 28, and Maria Francisco Huang, 27, were charged with aggravated child abuse. Walker said they are awaiting trial in the case. The investigation into that case found evidence of old injuries and that the child was malnourished. Two other children, a 2-year-old and a newborn, were removed from the home by by DHR.
The child survived his injuries, Carter said, but was left with permanent disabilities.
Carter said investigators talked to the same physician, Dr. Michael Taylor, professor of pediatrics and division director at Children's Hospital, whose specialty is child abuse, during both investigations.
"This is a tragic case," Walker said of the 4-month-old's death. "Our prayers go out to the family."
He thanked the district attorney's office for working with investigators in collecting evidence that led to the charge in the case.
This article originally appeared on The Gadsden Times: Father charged in 6-month-old's alleged 'shaken baby death'
