A Florida daycare worker faces life in prison after authorities say she repeatedly slammed a 3-month-old boy into a crib and a changing table, fracturing his skull, leg, and ribs, because she was angry over a text message.
The Bay County Sheriff’s Office arrested 24-year-old LaKayla E. Hamilton on Thursday, May 14, charging her with two counts of aggravated child abuse. She is currently held at the Bay County Jail on a $210,000 bond.
The investigation began on Wednesday, May 13, when deputies responded to a call from HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital in Panama City. Medical staff alerted authorities after a 3-month-old infant was brought to the emergency room with a fractured skull, fractured ribs, a fractured leg, and a brain bleed.
According to investigators, the infant sustained the injuries earlier that day while under Hamilton’s direct supervision at a local daycare center.
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When first questioned by detectives, Hamilton “denied any knowledge of how the child was injured,” the sheriff’s office stated in a news release.
However, during a subsequent interview, investigators said Hamilton confessed to the assaults, explaining that her anger boiled over from her personal life.
“Hamilton confessed that after arriving at work already upset by personal issues and receiving an additional text message that intensified her anger, she directed that rage toward the infant,” the sheriff’s office said.
According to police reports, Hamilton admitted to repeatedly slamming the baby into a crib and a changing table. She also disclosed that she squeezed the infant, shook him, and struck him in the head with toys “in attempts to stop him from crying.”
The violence did not stop with the initial assault. Hamilton allegedly admitted to a second round of abuse later that afternoon, attacking the infant “again in the same manner.”
“She was unable to provide an exact number of times she assaulted the child due to the level of rage she described experiencing,” the Bay County Sheriff’s Office noted.
Medical professionals indicated the child’s injuries were severe enough to be fatal. Investigators emphasized that the infant likely survived only because of “the swift action of the child’s parents in seeking immediate medical treatment.”
HCA Florida Gulf Coast Hospital has not released a statement regarding the incident or the current medical status of the infant. The name of the daycare facility where the incident occurred has not yet been released by standard police updates. Hamilton awaits her initial court appearance.
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