CRESTVIEW — A Crestview man faces 20 years in prison after shaking a baby and causing life-altering injuries.
David Fowler has been sentenced to 20 years with the Florida Department of Corrections for aggravated child abuse. A 10-year probation will follow.
Investigators were at North Okaloosa Medical Center working another case on Jan. 25, 2015 when a 3-month-old was brought into the emergency room.
The child’s mother brought the infant to NOMC, claiming she had accidentally dropped the baby on its head at her Crestview home, according to the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office.
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.
When Fowler, then 25, arrived at NOMC to comfort the mother, an OCSO investigator said Fowler admitted to shaking the child that evening, and doing so another day, because she would not stop crying.
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.
The baby survived, but has life-altering injuries, according to a media release from State Attorney Bill Eddins’ office.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview man gets 20 years for abusing 3-month-old girl