Susan Lane Hale (Escambia County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office)
A 27-year-old mother in Florida was arrested this week for her alleged role in torturing and beating her 22-month-old daughter so severely that the child has been in a “vegetative state” since suffering the injuries in June. Susan Lane Hale was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count of felony aggravated child abuse, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a probable cause affidavit, an investigator with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Victim’s Unit at about 6 p.m. on June 16 responded to the Studer Family Children’s Hospital on Bubba Watson Drive in Pensacola in reference to a possible child abuse call.
Upon arriving at the facility, investigators learned that a toddler had arrived via ambulance with a litany of horrific internal and external injuries, including extensive hair loss, sores on her scalp, bruising on her face, injuries inside her mouth, and what appeared to be inflicted burns.
“The internal injuries included an intracranial bleeding skull fracture, retinal hemorrhages, spinal fractures, rib fractures, and a liver laceration,” the document states.
The medical staff told investigators that the child’s injures were due to “inflicted, non-accidental trauma and child mistreatment rather than by accident.”
Hale, who was at the hospital with her mother and 9-month-old daughter, allegedly told investigators that on June 15 she had picked up one of her daughters from her mother and went straight home and went to sleep. Hale, her mother, and her two daughters all live in the same home.
Hale claimed that the victim — whose name is redacted from the report — woke up crying and “fussy” at about 3 a.m. on the morning of June 16, but went back to sleep without incident after being given a “sippy cup.”
Later that morning, while driving to work with the victim in the backseat, Hale said her daughter suddenly started “screaming” and then went “limp.” She stopped the car and saw the child’s lips turning blue so she drove to a local hospital that was not far away.
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“[Hale] had no explanation for [her daughter’s] injuries and denied [the child] suffered any accidental injury such as a fall. [Hale] was also adamant the children were only in her care or in the care of [her mother] for the previous eleven (11) days,” the affidavit states. “[Hale] denied the children were around her boyfriend, Dylan Thompson for at least 11 days prior to June 16, 2023.”
Authorities say Hale’s mother also could not provide an explanation for the victim’s injuries.
However, investigators say they have reason to believe that Hale had been lying about her whereabouts in the hours and days leading up to her daughter’s injuries and noted conflicting stories from Hale and her mother.
Detectives obtained cell phone data evidence from AT&T which they say showed that Hale was actually at her Thompson’s house “most of the day” and overnight on June 15, as well as on the morning of June 16. The affidavit states that Hale and her daughter were both at Thompson’s “for at least an hour” before the girl was taken to the hospital.
A 26-year-old Dyllan Thompson who lives in the area has been charged with violating domestic violence protective orders twice in the last two years, court records show. ECSO did not immediately respond to a message from Law&Crime seeking additional information and clarifying as to whether it is the same Dyllan Thompson authorities say Hale is dating.
Doctors told authorities last week that the victim has been in a “persistent vegetative state” for the last four months with a “grim prognosis for meaningful recovery.”
Hale is currently being held in Escambia County Jail on $750,000 bond.
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