Custody of brain-damaged baby sought

Family hopes to care for vegetative 16-month-old.
MANSFIELD (AP) -- The paternal grandmother of a brain-damaged 16-month-old boy is willing to take custody of him and would favor decisions to keep him alive, a judge was told Monday.
Aiden Stein has been in a vegetative state since March 15, 2004. He is hospitalized on life support in a suspected case of shaken baby syndrome.
The boy's father, Matthew Stein, has been under investigation, but has not been charged. Stein has denied harming his son.
Medical decisions
Richland County Children Services Board asked for permanent custody last month. The county would allow a court-appointed guardian to make medical decisions, including removal of life support.
Lawyers met with Juvenile Court Judge Ron Spon on Monday.
The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in December that the right to withdraw life support remained with the parents until their rights are taken permanently.
Lawyer Ed Markovich, who represented the child's mother, Arica Heimlich, at the hearing Monday, said a settlement was proposed to place Aiden in the custody of his grandmother Dawn Mansfield.
"The parents are very happy with that, although final terms of the settlement have yet to be determined," Markovich said.
Mansfield said she would make decisions to keep the child alive and to try weaning him off a ventilator, although medical experts have determined that Aiden Stein is blind, deaf and unaware of his surroundings.
"I don't feel it is a challenge," Mansfield said. "It's about my love for my grandson and love for my family."