A Florida man, currently in jail in California, has been charged with aggravated child abuse and first-degree murder of a Palm Bay baby after investigators found holes in his story.
24-year-old Joseph Lamay was babysitting his girlfriend’s four-month-old baby while she went to her job as a nurse at Sebastian River Medical Center. Lamay called 911 at 1:00 a.m. to report that the baby had hit his head and was unresponsive. The baby was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando where he was pronounced dead hours later.
Lamay claimed that the baby had hit his head on a coffee table as he fell off of the couch. He said that the baby later stopped breathing and became unresponsive, so he shook him in an effort to wake him up. Detectives say that the baby’s brain showed hemorrhaging inconsistent with the events and timeline of Lamay’s story, and say that the child may have been a victim of shaken baby syndrome.
The Dangers of Shaken Baby Syndrome for Florida Infants
Shaken baby syndrome is particularly dangerous for infants. When a baby is shaken, it only takes seconds to sustain permanent brain damage. Because babies have large, soft heads and weak necks, they are more susceptible to the whiplash injuries that can cause brain contusions, swelling, and bleeding.
A lack of obvious symptoms often means that a baby will not receive prompt medical attention for injuries that they suffer after being shaken. This can further compound the damage that is done, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that this can lead to one in four shaken babies dying from their injuries.
If you suspect that a baby has been shaken, seek immediate medical attention—it can mean the difference between life and death. If you think that the child was intentionally shaken and suspect abuse, contact our firm now by clicking on the live chat link.
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