CRESTVIEW — The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office has charged a Crestview man with aggravated child abuse and felony battery in connection with lifethreatening injuries suffered by a 3-month-old baby.
The child’s mother brought the infant to North Okaloosa Medical Center Wednesday evening, claiming she had accidentally dropped the baby on its head at her Crestview home.
During a medical evaluation, the child had severe bruising to her face and a CT scan revealed the child had active bleeding on the brain, as well as signs of previous trauma in the healing stages. The infant was flown by helicopter to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola where she was last listed in critical condition.
When 25-year old David Fowler arrived at NOMC to comfort the mother, an OCSO Investigator says Fowler admitted to shaking the child that evening, as well as back on January 25, because it would not stop crying. He told the investigator the child was “spoiled by its mother”.
Deputies learned Fowler also called the mother at her work to tell her he had dropped the baby but he never called 9-1-1. The mother drove home, got the baby, and took it to North Okaloosa Medical Center, a round trip of approximately 35 miles.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Man charged with child abuse, battery; toddler in critical condition