David Becker (Craighead County Sheriff’s Office).
An Arkansas father was arrested this week after he admittedly shook and threw his 3-month-old baby, police in the Natural State say.
David Allan Becker, 25, stands accused of one count of domestic battery in the second degree resulting in physical injury, according to Craighead County Sheriff’s Office records.
While the baby boy is still alive, the abuse he suffered caused his brain and eyes to bleed, law enforcement say. Then, as the investigation progressed, the child’s father allegedly changed his story several times to account for the infant’s severe trauma.
On Sept. 23, a member of the Arkansas State Police was contacted by the Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock about a baby with brain damage, according to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by Jonesboro-based ABC, NBC, and The CW Plus affiliate KAIT.
When initially questioned by state law enforcement, Becker allegedly said he was tossing his infant son into the air and catching him when the boy had a seizure, so he called 911.
But the child’s injuries appeared a bit too extreme for that explanation.
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The injuries are described in the court document as bilateral hematomas to the brain, severe retinal hemorrhaging behind the eyes, as well as damage to the spinal cord.
“I asked the doctor what would cause the injuries, and she told me that rapid acceleration of the head and violent shaking or slamming of the baby would cause the injuries to his brain and spinal cord,” a state police investigator wrote in the affidavit.
On Sept. 24, while being questioned at home, Becker allegedly gave a new version of events to police.
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“[Becker] told me that he was frustrated and the baby had spit up, and he threw the baby onto the bed, landing on his stomach, with his head hitting the bed,” the affidavit reads.
Still, the investigator was not satisfied — explaining to the defendant that the injuries had to have been caused by someone shaking the baby. Again, Becker’s story shifted, police allege.
“He told me that he had the child in his arms and was shaking it back and forth for around two minutes while he fixed him a bottle,” the affidavit reads. “I asked him if the baby’s head was whipping back and forth, and he told me, ‘A little.””
More Law&Crime coverage: Parents allegedly waited days after beating, shaking newborn before walking to hospital, saying baby ‘was dead anyways’
The defendant was arrested later that same day and detained in the Craighead County Detention Center. He was released on a $100,000 cash/surety bond on Sept. 25, jail records show.
Craighead County District Court Judge Tommy Fowler issued a no-contact order in the case during a Wednesday hearing — to keep the man away from the child, according to a courtroom report by KAIT. The court also found probable cause to maintain the battery charge against the defendant.
Becker is next slated to appear in court on Nov. 14.
Law&Crime reached out to the Arkansas State Police for additional details on this case. A spokesperson advised the filing of an open records request using the state’s Freedom of Information Act. The spokesperson also suggested a favorable result was unlikely because “Arkansas law requires you reside in Arkansas to receive documents using FOIA.”
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