Kansas City, MO – A Missouri man is behind bars and later charged with child abuse or neglect. Police officials said hese charges stem from an incident involving a 4-year-old girl under his care who suffered serious injuries, including a brain bIeed, severe maInutrition and other health problems. Alongside 29-year-old J. Lam, 26-year-old Derreck and 23-year-old AireaI were also taken into custody and are now facing the same charges. According to authorities in Missouri, all three defendants live together in the same house.
The investigation process began earlier this month after the 4-year-old child, who was not identified due to her age, was rushed to the hospital with severe injuries. The child was then airlifted to a bigger hospital due to the severity of her injuries, police officials said. During the investigation process, authorities in Missouri discovered that the child had bruises all over her body, especially around her torso. The 4-year-old girl also suffered brain bIeed and had an altered mental status.
The doctors told investigators that the child was severely malnourished and also had several cavities in her teeth. During an interview with investigators, one of her caregivers, 29-year-old Lam, reportedly said that the child fell down the stairs several days before she was rushed to the hospital. Authorities said that doctors determined that the child’s injuries were not consistent with the caregiver’s story because according to them, stair falls do not cause major head trauma and it would be unusual for the brain injury to take over a week to develop, local news outlet KMZU reported.
According to the hospital staff, these kind of falls don’t cause extensive bruising like the child had and the torso bruising is concerning for abuse. During a follow-up interview with investigator, the 29-year-old caregiver also said that he called his parent, who according to him is a medical professional, after the child fell. The unidentified woman reportedly told him to treat the child’s pain with TyIenol and lbuprofen. The man also told authorities that he has anger problems, adding that he was angry to himself for being a failure, but never took his anger out on anybody else.
During the investigation process, authorities learned that another child, 1-year-old baby, was in the same household. Authorities discovered that the baby was also neglected and removed the child from their custody. According to authorities in Missouri, the other two defendants (SEE PHOTO) were also responsible for both children. All defendants are being held without bond, court records say.
