A Maricopa County infant died this week after being hospitalized for several days with multiple injuries, which charging documents state his father admitted to having committed.
Nicholas Tyler Perkins, 24, of Waddell, was charged on suspicion of child physical abuse and aggravated assault, both felonies, according to court documents. These charges were filed before the infant died Monday afternoon, according to court records and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. A Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said the agency was investigating whether additional charges will be filed in the case.
About 2 a.m. Jan 5, sheriff’s deputies responded to a call about a 3-month-old who was not breathing in the area of North 181st Avenue and West Hatcher Road in Waddell, court documents show. Deputies located the baby, his parents and grandfather inside the home and paramedics found the child was unresponsive before he was taken with life-threatening injuries to Phoenix Children’s Hospital in Avondale, according to court documents. The parents told deputies the boy was constipated and had been born prematurely due to a medical condition, the court documents mention. He was flown to Phoenix Children’s in Phoenix, the documents added.
Later that morning, a social worker with the hospital told the Sheriff’s Office she wanted to report “non-accidental” injuries the child had, according to court documents. These injuries, as described in the charging documents, included bruising on the left side of the face, multiple fractures in different healing stages and hematoma, or clotted blood as a result of a broken blood vessel.
Detectives with the Sheriff’s Office special victims unit spoke with a doctor who said the baby had internal decapitation and multiple skull fractures with swelling to the head, court documents detailed. Charging documents indicate some of these were in the healing stage.
Detectives were informed the child might not survive, according to court documents. The child’s mother told detectives she and Perkins live separately, court documents said. According to the documents, the mom said she was visiting Perkins and the baby on the night of Jan. 4 when the child was handed over to the grandfather while she and the dad were in the room. At about 1 a.m., Perkins picked up the child from the grandfather and took the baby upstairs when she heard the child crying, adding he was being “fussy,” according to the court documents. She heard the baby stop crying and heard Perkins speed-walking down the stairs calling for the grandfather, the court documents said.
Perkins said the same but later recanted and told detectives he slipped on the stairs and hit the infant’s neck at the end of the step, and though the baby cried, he did not think much of it, charging documents detailed.
When confronted with the reported injuries being in a healing state, Perkins said the baby fell off the bed in late November or early December and hit his legs, according to court documents. Upon being told the child’s injuries were not consistent with his explanation, he further reported he took the baby upstairs and became frustrated because the infant would not stop crying, the documents continued.
Perkins said he forcefully shook the baby after he lost control and blacked out, according to charging documents. He admitted that he thought that was how the infant sustained his injuries, demonstrating how he shook the baby, court documents said.
Perkins was booked Jan. 5 and was being held on a $350,000 bond, according to court records. His next court appearance is Jan. 22, court records show.
This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Waddell baby dies after dad jailed in Maricopa County