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Coal Center mother jailed in infant’s assault

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A Coal Center mother was accused Wednesday of causing severe injuries to her 3-month-old baby who is now on life support.

Facing multiple charges including attempted homicide is Symantha Renea Sullivan, 25, of 72 Grange Road.

Sullivan was staying at America’s Best Value Inn and Suites Motel in Canton Township on Sept. 11, the day state police were alerted to the alleged child abuse. According to the criminal complaint, police arrived at the hotel about 4:19 p.m. as the unconscious baby boy was being flown to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Sullivan’s boyfriend, Justin Thaxton, and the baby’s 2-year-old sister were the only ones in the hotel room when the baby apparently fell from the bed to the floor, the complaint states.

Thaxton told police that he had fed the baby before laying him down in the middle of the bed. He told police the 2-year-old was playing in the room when he left to use the bathroom. He said he soon heard the baby crying.

“He said that when he came out of the bathroom, the victim was lying on the floor at the bottom of the bed crying, and said the 2-year-old took off running toward the other side of the room,” police wrote in the affidavit.

Thaxton told police that when he picked up the baby, he stopped crying, began gasping for air, went limp in his arms and stopped breathing. According to the complaint, Thaxton laid the baby back down on the bed and called Sullivan to tell her what happened.

When she returned to the hotel room, Sullivan called 911, the complaint said. Police didn’t state how long the couple waited before calling 911. The baby was unconscious and in critical condition when he was flown from the scene, police said.

Police suspected further abuse of the child after consulting with the hospital’s Child Advocacy Physician, Dr. Adelaide Eichman, the complaint said. The infant apparently had suffered skull and facial fractures along with brain injuries. Eichman told police the baby also suffered 10 rib fractures, an eye injury, internal abdominal bleeding, and arm and finger fractures.

Police interviewed Sullivan again Tuesday, when she admitted to abuse that occurred before the Sept. 11 incident, according to court documents. She told police that three or four days prior to that incident, she had dropped the baby in the bathtub in their hotel room. According to the complaint, she had been bathing the child when he slipped out of her hands and fell about a foot, landing on his head and face. Sullivan told police the boy didn’t have any bruising or marks on his face afterward, and “seemed fine,” the complaint said.

On Sept. 10, the baby awakened crying at 10 p.m. while lying next to Sullivan in the hotel bed. Sullivan told police that she couldn’t get the child to go back to sleep and that she was “exhausted,” the complaint said.

“She laid him on his stomach over her leg and struck him in the back of the head near the base of his skull with her closed left dominant fist, causing her hand to sting,” police wrote in the affidavit. The complaint said she didn’t check the baby for injuries, though he cried another 20 minutes before falling back to sleep. The next morning, Sept. 11, Sullivan reportedly had trouble waking the baby. She told police the child’s eyes were “glazed over,” and that he wouldn’t move his eyes and just stared.

“She said that she also grabbed the victim by the upper arms/shoulders and shook him hard back and forth, three to four times that morning,” police wrote in the affidavit. The complaint suggests that the rough shaking caused an injury to the baby’s chin and possibly caused some of the fractures listed by Eichman.

Sullivan told police that the baby slept in his car seat most of that day while she made deliveries for a food delivery service. Sullivan told police she didn’t take him out of the seat from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. She told police he was “really sleepy” and only drank one bottle all day, the complaint said.

Police said in the complaint that “the victim is in critical condition and on life support at Children’s Hospital as a result of these injuries.”

Sullivan was charged with two counts each of attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and harassment.

She was arraigned Wednesday morning by District Judge Michael Manfredi and jailed on $2 million bond. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for 11 a.m. Nov. 17 before District Judge James Saieva.

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