Crime & Safety

5-month-old Norwalk Girl 'Covered With Bruises,' Mother Arrested

Norwalk Hospital contacted police when the child was brought to the Emergency Department; the commander of the Norwalk Police youth bureau said that in his 23 years on the force he's never seen a baby so bruised and injured.

In addition to "bruises throughout her body," a 5-month-old girl brought into Norwalk Hospital's Emergency Department on Sunday had a fractured skull, arm and seven fractured ribs. Hospital staff notified police.

"It's a pretty sad case," said Lt. Ashley A. Gonzalez, commander of the Norwalk Police Youth Bureau, "one of the worst I've seen in my 23 years of service."

The injuries "did not appear to be accidental," according to a Norwalk police news release.

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The infant's mother, Jamie E. Lane, 22, of 5 Avenue E, was arrested Thursday on charges of first-degree assault on a minor and risk of injury to a minor, both felonies. Bond was initially set at $75,000.

"It's incomprehensible why a child this age could be subjected to that kind of thing," Gonzalez said. "When you see a baby this small, a five-month-old baby, covered with bruises, I don't care who you are, it touches you. A normal human being would be alarmed by that."

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Lane and her infant girl lived in the same home with her parents and her boyfriend, and her parents brought the baby to Norwalk Hospital.

"We're looking into how old some of those bruises and fractures are," Gonzalez said. It's "very possible," he said, that there could be another arrest in the case.

"There is some indication that people were aware [...] that the baby had some injuries," he said.

At this point, he said, it's hard to tell how significant or permanent the child's injuries are, he said. One good sign, he said, is that the child was released from the hospital within days.

"The baby seemed to be—in spite of her injuries—in good spirits," he said.

The Connecticut Department of Children and Families was notified about the case, and DCF took the child into its custody, according to the news release.

Gonzalez said police "interviewed all the family members." The mother "had some reasons that we're not going to go into" about why the child was injured, he said.

Editor's note: This article originally was published at 11:36 a.m., Friday. The time stamp was changed for layout purposes on the Norwalk Patch main page.


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