Parents face charges after baby brought to UF Health with 'significant' injuries

The parents of a 4-month-old baby face child abuse charges after the baby was brought into UF Health Shands Children's Hospital on Tuesday in critical condition with "significant inflicted traumatic injuries," according to arrest reports from the Gainesville Police Department.

Police say the baby had severe injures to his body and face, with his left eye hemorrhaging, bleeding on the brain, and bruising on his left hand, lower back, collar bone, behind his left ear and on his neck.

Despite multiple serious injuries, the parents waited several days before seeking medical attention for the child, a pair of arrest reports state.

Emma Belle Smithey, 19, who brought her son to UF Health on Tuesday morning, initially told doctors that she accidentally hit his head on the door frame as she was turning to enter the bathroom.

She later told police and an official with the Department of Children and Families that she never told doctors that, and instead claimed that on Jan. 1, she saw Timothy Jacob Smith, 22, the baby's father, carrying the baby and accidentally bumping his head on the door frame.

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In a separate interview, however, Smith told police that on Dec. 30, the baby was "abnormally fussy and wouldn't stop crying," so he held him to his chest, squeezed tightly around his neck, and held his mouth against his chest. He said he held the baby there until he stopped crying loudly and it became only a whimper.

Smith told police that the bruising on the baby's neck likely came from him squeezing too hard, and that he could have been too forceful shaking the baby against his chest, according to his arrest report.

Later that night, the baby again began crying uncontrollably. Police said that a frustrated Smith admitted that he intentionally dropped the baby into his bassinet from an "abnormal height."

The next morning, Smith told police that the baby woke up "crying hysterically." He said he was "exhausted and frustrated” and picked up the baby and turned his body with such force that he "slammed" the his head into the bathroom door frame, the report said.

Smith also told police that he did not intentionally injure his son, but admits he wasn’t thinking about the his safety. He said that his only priority was to get the baby to stop crying.

Smith said that he was the sole caregiver of the baby when the injuries occurred.

He is charged with child neglect with great bodily harm, cruelty toward a child, and aggravated child abuse.

In the days after the injuries and before being brought to the hospital, Smithey told police the baby had been crying, lethargic, barely eating, throwing up, unresponsive at times and having small seizure-like episodes.

The mother told law enforcement that finally decided to bring the baby in on Tuesday after he would not eat or hold his bottle in his mouth, had a temperature of 100.5 degrees, and had several minute-long seizures where he lost control of his limbs, according to her arrest report.

Smithey is charged with child neglect with great bodily harm.

UF Health staff told police that the lack of immediate medical care following the trauma has contributed to his current condition, and that the total impacts from the delay are not yet fully known.

"It is currently unknown if the infant will survive his injuries," the report said.

This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Gainesville couple charged with child abuse of infant in critical condition