"Infant John Doe" - 9 Months - Auburn (NE of Tacoma) WA

Auburn WA ---- A babysitter accused of violently shaking an infant in her
care is "totally innocent," says her family, who believes the baby's
injuries stem from a car crash a few weeks ago.
The babysitter, identified as Dotty M. Reed, 18, appeared in court
Saturday after her arrest on suspicion of first-degree child assault.
The 9-month-old baby boy, meanwhile, remains in critical condition at
Children's Hospital, where he has been since Thursday.
Auburn Police Sgt. Scott Near said the baby's mother dropped him and
his sibling off at Reed's home at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. At 9 a.m. that
morning, Reed called 911 and said the baby was having trouble breathing.
Medics arrived at the home in the 11200 block of SE 322nd St. and
found no outward signs of trauma. The baby was taken to the Harborview
Medical Center, then later transported to Children's Hospital.
Several hours later, hospital staff notified police that the baby
appeared to have injuries that often result from shaking. The baby is in
an unconscious state, and may not regain consciousness, Near said.
The babysitter was arrested on Friday.
But the babysitter's family says the infant was in a car accident not
so long ago, and think that could be connected.
"He (the baby boy) stopped breathing all of a sudden, so she
immediately called 911," says the babysitter's grandfather, Roy Reed.
He said he doesn't believe his granddaughter harmed the baby.
"She's very loving," he says.
Roy Reed says his granddaughter has been watching the infant since
February, when the parents answered an ad she had posted on the
Craigslist website.
The grandfather say the child's father got into a car accident
recently after picking the boy up, and thinks the injuries may have come
from that.
"I don't know if that triggered it, or something. It did something, I
think," says Roy Reed.
But Auburn police say there's evidence the child's injuries are fresh
- and potentially life-threatening.
"This is something that occurred in a short time frame. It would not
be related to a car accident that occurred about a month ago," says
Auburn police spokesman Dave Colglazier.
At Saturday's court hearing, Dotty Reed's mother pleaded with the
judge to release her.
"She's innocent. She's totally innocent of all of this. She will not
hurt a hair on anybody's head," said Rhonda Reed, the babysitter's
mother.
But the judge ordered Reed held on $150,000 bail while the child
assault case moves forward.
The babysitter has a child of her own, who was taken into protective
custody, Near said.

An Auburn teen accused of delivering
life-threatening injuries to a 9-month-old infant in her care has been
charged with first-degree assault.
King County prosecutors contend Dotty Marie Reed, 18, was babysitting
the child and his older sister on Thursday morning when the child
stopped breathing. Police and medics were called to Reed's residence,
where they found the child limp and unresponsive.
The child was rushed to Seattle Children's Hospital where doctors
determined that the baby boy had suffered an injury unexplained by
Reed's claim that she'd simply set him on the floor too hard, according
to charging documents.
Doctors determined the child had suffered a significant brain injury;
prosecutors contend Reed is the only one who could have caused the
injuries.
"The defendant committed an extremely serious assault against (the
boy), who she was supposed to be caring as his babysitter," Senior
Deputy Prosecutor Charles K. Sergis told the court. "Instead, the
defendant inflicted an injury on (the boy) that he may not survive.
"If he does survive, it is extremely unlikely that he will ever be
able to care for himself, walk, talk, eat or enjoy any meaningful
quality of life."
Speaking with detectives, Reed allegedly admitted that she'd been
frustrated with the child for weeks because of his fussiness.
According to charging documents, Reed said she grabbed the boy
roughly out of the walker and took him to her bedroom, where she put him
down on the floor "really hard."
She claimed she heard a sound as his head snapped forward, police
assert. He began crying and then sleeping, then began breathing
strangely.
"Reed said that was when she realized that she had hurt him," Auburn
Detective Michelle J. Vojir said in charging documents. "She stated that
she put (him) down too hard and turned him around too quick and hard
and that shook him.
"Reed stated that when she did it she wasn't really thinking about
what she was doing, that it just happened."
Charged with first-degree assault, Reed is currently jailed at the
Norm Maleng Regional Justice Center on $150,000 bail. She is set to be
arraigned June 7.