A five-month-old East St. Louis, Illinois, baby girl is clinging to life after she suffered a beating that left her with broken ribs, a cracked skull and a bulging eye, police say.
Formal charges could come today, and a 24-year-old male relative is in custody, police officials say.
The mother of the baby apparently took her to Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis on Wednesday night, and it's unclear if she could potentially face charges. As of yesterday, police were still questioning her.
Here's KSDK-TV (Channel 5)'s short segment on the beating, which includes a comment from East St. Louis Police Chief Michael Floore.
Asked if the mother will be charged, he says, "The mom was around a little bit.... We don't know if mom knew about all this or not, she says she knew a little bit about it. Again, we're still questioning her right now."
Police have not yet released details on how the suspect is related to the baby.
Daily RFT left a message with Floore this morning. We'll update if we hear back.
Police have assigned a juvenile death investigation team to the case, and the baby girl, it appears, remains in very serious condition.
Here are some tweets from a KMOX (1120 AM) reporter at Floore's press conference yesterday. She says that the mother may be homeless.ESL Chief Michael Floore says a 5 month old baby was admitted to hospital with skull fracture, head, neck injuries. pic.twitter.com/nOzxNj3ReU
— Allison Blood (@AllisonBlood) August 1, 2013
Person of interest in custody, he was a care giver, has not yet been charged. 25 years old. Baby is in critical condition in hospital.
— Allison Blood (@AllisonBlood) August 1, 2013
Baby was taken to Cardinal Glennon by mother, a 24 year old homeless woman.
— Allison Blood (@AllisonBlood) August 1, 2013
It's possible that there are "several others" who may have known about the abuse and did not report it. They could face charges as well.
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