In Utah, Abused girl defies odds and graduates with classmates | Shaken Baby Syndrome

There were 339 students who made up the class of 2012 at Provo High School's graduation. On a cold January night 15 years ago, no one thought Amanda Peterson would reportedly be one of them.

KSL News reported the story that winter night: a child left critically injured, her abuser on the run. The man was later captured and convicted, but Amanda will always suffer because of his crime.

"She'll never be able to live a normal life, and possibly never be able to walk," said Amanda's mother, Susan Rice, as she recalled her conversations with doctors back in 1997.

Amanda, then just 3 years old, would endure three months of hospitalization after her abuse.

"They said it was shaken baby syndrome, and they were going to put an all points bulletin out for Casey Perkins, who hurt her," Rice explained.

Amanda had been shaken so violently her brain resembled having been dropped from a six-story building. Perkins would serve eight years in prison.

Still, facing temporary blindness along with physical and mental disability, Amanda persevered, easily surpassing even the brightest of expectations by doctors. On graduation night, she was no different from any other teenager.

Before the ceremony, Amanda put on her cap and her gown, and even a new shade of lipstick. Why the bright pink? Well, it's very much what you would expect in an answer from your typical 18 year old.

"Celebrities wear it, so I want to wear it too; because it looks pretty," Amanda said.

Like so many other moms on their child's graduation day, Rice could barely hold back the tears. "Words can't tell how happy I am," she said.

And that's really the lesson here: No one predicted Amanda would make it to this point, no one thought she could do it, but that's just fine by her. She plans to keep proving people wrong.

"I'm just so proud of the things she has done and how far she's come, and how she's never given up," Rice said.

Amanda will begin vocational training now that she's officially a high school graduate, and hopes to land a job after she wraps up her next round of classwork.

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If you have any questions or concerns about what can be done to help babies who have been shaken, or families of babies who have died, please call Christopher Keane and The Keane Law Firm toll-free for free consultation at (888) 592-5437 (KIDS), click on contact us here, or use the web form provided at http://www.keanelaw.com

In New York, Queens Creep Admits To Shaking 2-Month-Old Daughter For Three Full Minutes; Baby Currently On Life-Support | Shaken Baby Syndrome

*Excerpt taken from HERE

Remember all those PSAs reminding people to "never shake a baby?" Well, there was a reason for those ads -- shaking a baby is incredibly dangerous (not to mention cruel and sick), a reality that a Queens baby, who currently is fighting for her life, learned the hard way.

Just to make this story slightly more despicable, the baby is only 2 months old.

According to the Queens District Attorney's Office, the baby's father, 27-year-old Israel Garcia, admitted to shaking the baby on several occasions. On Monday, he took his baby-shaking too far, and his daughter is now on life-support at a local hospital with bleeding to the brain and other life-threatening injuries.

Queens County District Attorney Richard Brown says the baby -- Maria Grodillo, who was born on March 12 -- was taken to the emergency room at Elmhurst Medical Center on Monday in an "unresponsive condition." Maria was then taken to New York University Hospital, where it was determined that she was suffering from multiple subdural hematomas (bleeding on the brain), retinal hemorrhages in the left eye (bleeding in the eye), old and new brain injuries (resulting from trauma and oxygen deprivation to the brain), multiple old rib fractures and various bruises on her left foot and back.

Doctors determined that the injuries were consistent with "non-accidental inflicted abuse head trauma," which includes Shaken Baby Syndrome. The rib fractures were determined to be consistent with an adult grabbing her and squeezing her rib cage.

According to the criminal complaint, Garcia admitted to police that earlier this month he came home from work "tired and frustrated." When his infant daughter started crying, it sent him over the edge, so he squeezed her around her torso and shook her up and down. He told police he thought he might have injured Maria's ribs at the time, but declined to tell anyone.

Garcia also admitted that on Monday he was alone with Maria when she woke up from a nap and started to cry. Rather than acting like a parent and comforting the girl, he shook her for three minutes -- until she stopped crying and appeared to go to sleep.

Maria wasn't sleeping, though, she just stopped breathing thanks to the attack from her own father.

Noticing that something was wrong, Garcia then called 911.

"According to the charges, the infant suffered severe brain and eye injuries, multiple rib fractures and various bruises on her left foot and back," Brown says. "Despite increased efforts by medical and law enforcement personnel to educate the public on the dangers of shaking a baby, we are still seeing far too many cases of children dying or being permanently disabled, both mentally and physically, at the hands of their care givers. Under no circumstances should a baby be shaken. Three seconds of shaking is all it takes to cause irreparable injury or even death." 

Garcia's been hit with one count each of first-degree assault and endangering the welfare of a child. He was ordered held without bail. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

Brown also notes that if Maria dies, the charges against Garcia would be upgraded.

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If you have any questions or concerns about what can be done to help babies who have been shaken, or families of babies who have died, please call Christopher Keane and The Keane Law Firm toll-free for free consultation at (888) 592-5437 (KIDS), click on contact us here, or use the web form provided at http://www.keanelaw.com

In Arizona, Arizona man sentenced in death of 13-month-old girl | Shaken Baby Syndrome

A 19-year prison sentence was reportedly imposed Friday for a northwest Arizona resident who critically injured a baby who died at Sunrise Medical Center.

Dustin Colpitts, 22, reportedly pleaded guilty to child abuse and manslaughter in the January 2011 death of his former girlfriend's daughter, 13-month-old Adriana Sweeney.

Defense attorney Kyle Kinkead reportedly told the Court that Colpitts was immature and ill-equipped when he was left with day care responsibility for Sweeney. Colpitts admitted slapping, kicking, and shaking Sweeney after months of mounting frustration with inability to control her crying, Kingman police said.

The Mohave County Attorney's office reportedly said the baby suffered retinal hemorrhaging commonly associated with what is known as "shaken baby syndrome."

Authorities said Colpitts reportedly spent more than five years incarcerated for sex offenses committed in Oregon before his release and relocation to Arizona.

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If you have any questions or concerns about what can be done to help babies who have been shaken, or families of babies who have died, please call Christopher Keane and The Keane Law Firm toll-free for free consultation at (888) 592-5437 (KIDS), click on contact us here, or use the web form provided at http://www.keanelaw.com

In Missouri, Man pleads guilty, sentenced for baby death in St. Charles | Shaken Baby Syndrome

A St. Louis man has reportedly been sentenced to 18 years in prison after admitting he shook a 3-month-old relative in St. Charles in 2011, causing her death.

The man, Jarrett Lamar Reed, 23, was reportedly left alone to watch the baby, Maliah May Thomas, on Aug. 26 of that year in an apartment in the first block of Bel Rae Court. The child's mother is Reed's cousin.

Reed reportedly pleaded guilty to abuse of a child resulting in death on Thursday in St. Charles County Circuit Court and was sentenced by Circuit Judge Lucy Rauch.

Police said that sometime during the morning while Reed was with Maliah, he reportedly shook and twisted her violently, causing major internal injuries. Then he left to get a cigar and returned to watch television in another room until her mother returned from work about 4 p.m. She called 911 after discovering Maliah was "ice cold," police said.  Reed reportedly told police he got frustrated with the baby after she would not stop crying.

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If you have any questions or concerns about what can be done to help babies who have been shaken, or families of babies who have died, please call Christopher Keane and The Keane Law Firm toll-free for free consultation at (888) 592-5437 (KIDS), click on contact us here, or use the web form provided at http://www.keanelaw.com

In Louisiana, Father convicted of negligent homicide in infant's death | Shaken Baby Syndrome

A jury on Tuesday reportedly found Chase Cascio guilty of negligent homicide in the death of his 2-month-old son, who was killed in June 2009.

After about five hours of deliberation, the jury reportedly came back with the guilty verdict that could put Cascio in prison for two to five years, said prosecuting attorney Josephine Heller.

The verdict on Tuesday reportedly followed closing arguments by both sides, focusing on whether it was Cascio who beat and shook the baby, whether he intended to harm the baby, the believability of witness testimonies and the timing of events.

Prosecutors Heller and Nick Anderson reportedly told the jury that Cascio had a violent past, had been quoted saying “everyone has a breaking point” and that pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Jose Bermudez had testified that the injuries the baby suffered were consistent with those caused by blunt force trauma less than an hour or so before the baby was sent to the hospital.

Anderson argued Cascio had reportedly reached his breaking point at home, with the increasing arguments he had gotten into with his wife stemming from their different upbringings and financial struggles.

Anderson reportedly said witnesses such as the baby’s mother, great-grandmother and a family neighbor had testified that the baby had seemed happy days and hours before he was in Cascio’s care.

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If you have any questions or concerns about what can be done to help babies who have been shaken, or families of babies who have died, please call Christopher Keane and The Keane Law Firm toll-free for free consultation at (888) 592-5437 (KIDS), click on contact us here, or use the web form provided at http://www.keanelaw.com

In Illinois, Southwestern Illinois man accused of battering 5-month-old son | Shaken Baby Syndrome

A southwestern Illinois man is reportedly jailed on $250,000 bond after authorities accused him of battering his 5-month-old son.

Prosecutors in Madison County reportedly charged 19-year-old Alexander Brooks of Wood River with two counts of felony aggravated battery.


Authorities say the baby reportedly sustained various broken bones late last year, and the investigation began when the child's mother brought the baby to a St. Louis hospital for an exam.

Doctors who reportedly noticed the injuries contacted Wood River police. Prosecutors say investigators determined Brooks had reportedly shaken and squeezed the child.

Investigators say there's reportedly no evidence the mother was involved in the injuries.

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If you have any questions or concerns about what can be done to help babies who have been shaken, or families of babies who have died, please call Christopher Keane and The Keane Law Firm toll-free for free consultation at (888) 592-5437 (KIDS), click on contact us here, or use the web form provided at http://www.keanelaw.com

In Washington, Shaken baby case delayed in Benton County Superior Court | Shaken Baby Syndrome

The lawyer for a nanny reportedly charged in the death of a Richland toddler said Tuesday that his client will be prejudiced if forced to go to trial this year because the victim's mother is pregnant.

Scott Johnson reportedly asked for a trial delay on behalf of client Kelli Anne Jacobsen, citing a number of issues with the manslaughter case.

His expert in shaken baby syndrome won't be available to testify until November and Dr. Daniel Selove, the forensic pathologist, is out of the country at the end of the year.

Jacobsen, 27, was reportedly the nanny for Ryder Morrison, a 1-year-old boy who died June 22. She is accused of causing a fatal head injury to the boy while watching him at his Richland home.

Ryder's death reportedly came a day after his first birthday.

Jacobsen is reportedly charged in Benton County Superior Court with first-degree manslaughter.

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If you have any questions or concerns about what can be done to help babies who have been shaken, or families of babies who have died, please call Christopher Keane and The Keane Law Firm toll-free for free consultation at (888) 592-5437 (KIDS), click on contact us here, or use the web form provided at http://www.keanelaw.com

Read more here: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/05/09/2136820/shaken-baby-case-delayed-in-benton.html#storylink=cpy