"Baby Jane" MITCHELL - 3 Months - Fort Pierce FL

The father of a 3-month-old infant encountered early last week with
significant injuries — including a skull fracture — was arrested Tuesday
on an aggravated child abuse charge, according to recently released
records. Jeffrey Lamar Mitchell, 33, of the 2300 block of South
29th Street in Fort Pierce, was arrested early Tuesday morning, slightly
more than a week after Fort Pierce police went to Lawnwood Regional
Medical Center & Heart Institute and encountered the injured infant. Police
last week arrested Michael Warfle, 21, and the child's 22-year-old
mother, Christina Cooper-Rivera, each on an accessory-related charge.
Warfle also was arrested on a making a false report to law enforcement
charge. Following Cooper-Rivera's arrest, Sgt. Dennis McWilliams,
police spokesman, said, "This has been a challenging case for our
detectives mainly because there's been so much going on to cover up this
crime." "The detectives had to wade through the initial stories
given by these people to develop a probable cause belief of who
committed this awful crime," McWilliams said. Police on April 11
went to Lawnwood where Cooper-Rivera said she was at work when Warfle
contacted her and said the infant fell from a bassinet onto the floor.
The child soon was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm
Beach. Warfle said he watched the child while Cooper-Rivera was
at work, and the infant started crying. He said he began rocking the
bassinet and that it flipped over, causing the infant to fall. An
officer spoke with St. Mary's officials and was told the infant "had a
right side brain bleed, a left side skull fracture, a broken right
clavicle and (an) old 12th rib fracture." The injuries weren't
consistent with a 2- to 3-foot fall. Warfle was taken into
custody, and told he was under arrest. He then said he didn't watch the
infant, saying Cooper-Rivera's boyfriend, who is the child's father,
did. He said he knew the father as "City," and believed he heard someone
call him Kevin. Warfle said he heard a "thud" from
Cooper-Rivera's apartment. Warfle said "City" told him the infant fell
from the bassinet. "City" asked Warfle to say Warfle was caring for the
infant, saying "he could not be involved in this," an affidavit states.
Warfle said he agreed because "City" was his friend and lent him money
in the past. While police initially were at Lawnwood,
Cooper-Rivera asked investigators to speak to the infant's father on the
phone, identifying him as "Jeff." "Jeff" said he was about seven hours
away and was on his way from Georgia. Surveillance video from
Lawnwood showed Cooper-Rivera being dropped off from a gray vehicle with
Warfle as the front-seat passenger. Police couldn't immediately
identify the driver. Interviewed again, Cooper-Rivera said she
left her son with Warfle. She told police the driver was a friend of
Warfle's and that she didn't know his name. She said Mitchell was in
Georgia before the incident. Investigators again spoke to Warfle.
He identified a photo of Mitchell as "City." Told by police of
surveillance video from the hospital, Warfle said Mitchell was the
driver. "We believe that Warfle and the mother concocted this story in order to protect Mr. Mitchell," McWilliams said Wednesday.

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/region_st_lucie_county/fort_pierce/dad-arrested-in-fort-pierce-infant-beating-

FORT PIERCE — The father of a 3-month-old infant treated in April for
injuries including a skull fracture pleaded no contest Monday to child
neglect and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.


Jeffrey Lamar Mitchell, 34, of the 2300 block of South 29th Street in
Fort Pierce had been charged with aggravated child abuse causing great
harm, a first-degree felony. As part of a plea deal, he pleaded to a
second-degree felony and was given credit for the 194 days he's already
served in jail by Circuit Judge Lawrence Mirman.


Following his release from prison, Mitchell is to serve two years of probation and have no contact with the victim in the case.


According to Fort Pierce Police Department reports, a friend of
Mitchell's, Michael Warfle, 22, of Fort Pierce originally said he was
watching the child when the infant fell from a bassinet onto the floor.


An official at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach told
officers the infant "had a right side brain bleed, a left side skull
fracture, a broken right clavicle and (an) old 12th rib fracture,"
adding that the injuries weren't consistent with a 2- to 3-foot fall.


When Warfle was arrested, he said he hadn't been watching the infant
but agreed to cover for Mitchell, who was supposed to be caring for the
child while the mother, Christina Cooper-Rivera, was away.


Warfle has been charged with aggravated child abuse and filing a
false crime report. Cooper-Rivera, who was Mitchell's girlfriend at the
time, is charged with accessory after the fact to child abuse. Both have
status hearings Nov. 1.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2011/oct/24/fort-pierce-father-of-injured-infant-sentenced/