Infant sustains skull fractures

Staff report

AUSTINTOWN

A 2-month-old boy was admitted to Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley with two skull fractures Tuesday, according to a police report.

According to police, the mother told a social worker at the hospital her boyfriend had been watching the infant at their Raccoon Road apartment. He woke her up at 4 a.m. to tell her something was wrong with the boy’s head. She told Austintown police the baby’s head was swollen and the child was screaming.

Doctors determined there were fractures to each side of the baby’s head.

She first took the baby to St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital and was discharged. She told police at the hospital the baby’s head was misshapen from sleeping on it. Later Tuesday, her brother suggested she go to Akron Children’s Hospital for a second opinion.

While the mother reportedly told the social worker at Akron Children’s there were no domestic-violence issues between her and her boyfriend, her brother told police her boyfriend had beat her as recently as two or three weeks ago.

The child’s godmother also told police the mother’s boyfriend “gets angry and rough,” according to a police report.

The boyfriend told police he was playing video games in his bedroom when he heard the baby crying unusually loudly.

Doctors transferred the child to the main campus of Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron, where a neurologist will decide whether surgery is necessary and do a complete child-abuse investigation.

Township police have made arrangements to have the child taken into state custody, according to the report.

A detective handling the case was not available for comment Wednesday.