A 1-year-old Bronx girl was punched in the head multiple times by her mom’s teen boyfriend, leaving the baby so badly hurt she needed surgery to remove a piece of her skull, prosecutors say.
The tiny victim was only semi-conscious when cops responding to a 911 call from her mother arrived at the apartment on Union Ave. near E. 152nd St. in the South Bronx about 9:30 p.m. last Thursday, officials said.
The tot’s face and head were badly swollen, especially around her bruised left eye and she was struggling to breath, according to a criminal complaint.
Medics rushed her to Harlem Hospital, where she was in critical but stable condition. She needed to be placed on a ventilator and life support and had extensive subdural hemorrhaging on the right side of her head, according to court papers.
Those gruesome injuries resulted in swelling and intracranial pressure causing brain herniation and so doctors had to remove part of her skull to relieve the pressure, court papers reveal.
The girl’s mother told cops she left her daughter in the care of 19-year-old Jerome Thomas and when she returned 45 minutes later she found her on the bed badly bruised, the complaint says.
Thomas is dating the victim’s mother but is not the girl’s father, law enforcement sources said.
Thomas admitted to police he struck her twice on the side of the head with a “heavy hand,” making her cry, the criminal complaint against him alleges.
The next day, police arrested Thomas, charging him with felony assault and child endangerment.
Thomas was arraigned in Bronx Criminal Court and ordered held without bail. Attempts to reach his lawyer were unsuccessful Monday.
