A 1-year-old boy is being treated in intensive care after his mother’s boyfriend allegedly grabbed him in a violent manner, causing his neck to snap backward, authorities said.
The child sustained bleeding on his brain as well as a burn mark from a lighter to his leg, according to an arrest warrant. The child is being treated at Augusta University Medical Center ICU.
Michael DeWayne Hampton, 21, was charged Tuesday with cruelty to children in the first degree. He is being held without bond at the Richmond County Detention Center.
The incident allegedly occurred Monday at the couple’s home on the 1900 block of Cooney Circle. The child was taken Monday to the hospital after the child was throwing up, a sheriff’s report says.
Medical staff found the child with a burn mark to his inner left leg. The boy’s mother, Brenda Polite, told authorities that the burn came from from the kitchen stove while she was preparing dinner, but the arrest warrant contradicts that claim.
Dr. Jacqueline Mulhall said that a CT scan revealed the child was bleeding from the brain.
Polite told authorities that the child stays at home with her boyfriend while she is working.
Greg Rickabaugh is the Jail Report Contributor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at greg.rickabaugh@theaugustapress.com.
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