CHEYENNE RAE - 8 mo/ Accused: Father; James Davis Jr. - Spartanburg SC

Deputies: Baby hospitalized after dad shook her violently

Posted: Aug 19, 2012 4:01 PM CDT
Updated: Aug 20, 2012 5:44 AM CDT
By Casey Vaughn

VIDEO REPORT

SPARTANBURG, SC (FOX Carolina) -Deputies arrested a Wellford man after they said he violently shook his infant daughter, requiring her to be airlifted to a Greenville hospital on Friday.

Spartanburg County deputies said they were called to 28-year-old James Davis Jr.'s Springbrook Court home about 7 p.m. when he said his baby girl, Cheyenne Rae, was having trouble breathing.

When paramedics arrived, the girl was unresponsive and was airlifted to Greenville Memorial Hospital, according to the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office report.

Doctors told deputies that the girl had a life-threatening brain injury from child abuse, the report said. When questioning Davis, deputies said he admitted to violently shaking the girl.

Cheyenne Rae's mother, Amy Owensby, said her daughter remains in critical condition, hooked up to dozens of tubes and machines.

"As far as her condition goes, it's still very touch and go at this point," said Owensby. "She isn't able to move her right arm as of yet, she has been bleeding behind her eyes from being shaken. They did start her on a feeding tube today. They keeping giving her more and more sedatives to keep her still but she's fighting them and is still moving like crazy."

Family and friends are hopeful the child will recover, they said doctors call the little girl a fighter.

"She's mama's feisty little girl," said Owensby. "They said she's more likely to make it than to not, which is a big improvement."

Davis was arrested for child abuse causing great injury. He is being held at jail on no bond. Fox Carolina stopped by his home Sunday, but no one was at the residence.

http://www.wbtv.com/story/19315225/deputies-baby-hospitalized-after-dad-shook-her-violently