Kyle James Lawson (Shelby County Jail).
An Indiana man is facing serious time behind bars while his 3-month-old daughter is lucky to be alive after suffering from multiple “near fatal” injuries, according to authorities in the Hoosier State.
Kyle James Lawson, 28, stands accused of two counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury, according to charging documents filed in Shelby County on Wednesday.
Police claim the infant was nearly killed by being shaken by her father. Meanwhile, the defendant claims a lapse in memory.
Law enforcement came into the picture on July 13.
Lawson called 911 to report that his baby girl was unresponsive, according to court documents in the case obtained by Indianapolis-based Fox affiliate WXIN.
The infant was first rushed to a hospital but then airlifted to a children’s hospital in Indianapolis due to the severity of the trauma — which officials described as “a likely brain injury.”
Doctors at the children’s hospital would later catalog the infant as having 18 rib fractures — all of which were in different stages of healing; a left leg fracture; a fractured finger on her left hand; blood collecting outside her brain on both sides of her head; and blood on three spots in her spine, according to the TV station.
“(The infant’s) constellation of injuries is diagnostic of abusive head trauma,” a doctor’s report cited by police reads. “(The infant) had been injured several times in the weeks prior to her near fatal event as evidenced by prior bruises, prior subconjunctival hemorrhages and multiple healing fractures on initial X-rays. (The infant) was injured again in the minutes to hours prior to the near fatal even as evidenced by the clinical history of an infant at her typical baseline who then had sudden respiratory arrest in the setting of head trauma.”
The defendant was allegedly noncommittal about the injuries from the start — telling doctors: “Maybe I shook her, I don’t really know.”
During an ensuing investigation, the child’s mother said Lawson never outright admitted to harming their girl. The mother, however, allegedly “did feel that some of his conversation was apologetic for his behavior, causing the injuries to the child,” police claim.
Still, police say they collected ever more telling evidence of the father’s alleged culpability for what happened to the infant.
“Am I really calling 911?” Lawson asked the child’s mother in a text message in the minutes before making the call that likely saved the girl’s life. “What the f––– could have happened?”
The girl’s mother allegedly responded: “I don’t like her breathing.”
The next day, Lawson allegedly blamed himself — again in texts.
“I’ll never forgive myself for what has happened,” he allegedly texted the child’s mother. “I’m not gonna stop fighting for our family.”
In yet another text message to a different family member, Lawson insisted he had not intentionally tried to hurt the girl.
Police say surveillance footage put an end to the guesswork.
In videos cited in the charging documents, Lawson is allegedly seen shaking the infant three times while she was on a changing table, giving the girl rescue breaths, and flipping her over by one of her legs.
A doctor at the children’s hospital was asked to view the footage — allegedly telling police it was akin to “the type of abusive behavior” that would be “expected to cause (the) near fatal event.”
Lawson, for his part, told investigators he had no memory of shaking his daughter, giving her rescue breaths, or flipping her over.
In a follow-up interview, the defendant allegedly sought to explain by telling police he experiences “time blindness” as an ADHD symptom — adding that recent stress had resulted in periods during which he blacked out.
The girl, all-but miraculously alive, was suffering from weeks-old injuries — not just the “near fatal event” that saw her hospitalized. As for the prior trauma, the defendant seemed more certain, allegedly telling police he was “sure he did not cause the previous injuries.”
Lawson was arrested by the Shelbyville Police Department on Aug. 9. He was granted a $50,005 surety bond. The defendant is slated to next appear in court on Oct. 16.
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