"Baby John" BARIA - 18 Months - Big Point MS

An 18-month-old boy
was in critical condition Tuesday in an Alabama hospital and his father
was in jail, accused of felony child abuse, Sheriff Mike Byrd said.Sheriff’s
investigators arrested Matthew Warren Baria, 34, of Carter Road, in the
Big Point community Monday. His arrest came four days after
investigators first responded to a medical emergency at Baria’s home.
Sheriff’s deputies got to the home before ambulance personnel, Byrd said, and Baria indicated the boy had fallen.


Baria

“He claimed the child fell out of the crib, but after our
investigation, it turned out there was a little more to it,” Byrd said.
“The child is in very critical condition. We hope and pray the child
makes it, but it doesn’t look good.”
After an investigation into
the claims, Byrd said it appeared the infant boy had injuries consistent
with shaken baby syndrome and being dropped on the floor. The boy, he
said, had a “severe head injury.”
The infant was airlifted to
South Alabama’s Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile immediately
after the incident. The infant remained hospitalized Tuesday in critical
condition. If the child should die, Byrd said, the felony child abuse
charge would be upgraded to capital murder.
As a result of the
investigation, Byrd said, another child, 3, was removed from Baria’s
home and placed in the custody of the state Department of Human
Services.
Felony child abuse carries a sentence from 10 years to life in prison plus a $10,000 fine.
Baria was being held in Jackson County’s maximum-security jail Tuesday on a $100,000 bond.

Read more here: http://www.sunherald.com/2012/01/31/3722963/father-accused-of-critically-injuring.html#storylink=cpy