Shannon Hills Mother, 19, Charged After Infant Found With Broken Ribs, Limbs And Spine

BENTON, Ark. — A 19-year-old Shannon Hills woman was charged Tuesday in Saline County Circuit Court as an accomplice to first-degree domestic battery after doctors found her 2-month-old daughter had broken ribs on both sides, fractures in all four limbs and a compression fracture of the spine, injuries a physician said were “not accidental and are consistent with abuse.”

Brooklin Meredith is charged with domestic battery in the first degree of a victim 4 or younger, a Class Y felony carrying 10 to 40 years or life in prison; permitting abuse of a child, a Class B felony; and introducing a controlled substance into the body of another person, a Class C felony. Prosecuting Attorney Chris Walton’s office, through Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Taylor Smith, also asked that any sentence be enhanced because the offense was committed in the presence of a child.

The information alleges that between April 7 and June 30, Meredith, “in concert with Jordan Knight,” knowingly caused serious physical injury to the infant and recklessly failed to prevent the abuse. The affidavit identifies Knight as the baby’s father. Knight was booked into the Saline County jail by Shannon Hills police the evening of Sept. 30 on a felony charge of first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor and was released Oct. 12 on a $15,000 bond, according to the jail’s booking record. No case against him had been filed in circuit court as of Tuesday evening.

The third count alleges that on June 30, Meredith caused a second child to ingest or inhale marijuana, resulting in a positive drug test.

Lt. Ray Keech of the Shannon Hills Police Department wrote in an affidavit that he was assigned the case July 1, the day after the baby was taken to an emergency room, and interviewed both parents with an investigator from the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division. Knight described the baby as “a quiet happy baby” and said he had no explanation for her injuries, Keech wrote. Meredith was “very defensive and uncooperative” at first and denied causing the injuries or knowing who had. Both parents tested positive for THC.

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A preliminary doctor’s report on July 2 found fractures of the fifth and sixth ribs on the right side and the second through sixth ribs on the left, “bucket handle” fractures of the long bones in both upper legs and both lower legs, an additional fracture in the right lower leg, a fracture of the left upper arm, a fracture at the base of the left big toe, a compression fracture of the T7 vertebra and bruises to the right buttock, lower back, left torso and left thigh, according to the affidavit. Bucket-handle fractures are breaks at the ends of a young child’s long bones that physicians associate with forceful pulling or twisting.

Both children were placed in the care of the Department of Human Services, and the baby remained in the hospital, Keech wrote. A hair follicle test on the older child came back positive for THC and methamphetamine on July 14.

Neighbors on High Road East told Keech the family had lived next door for about a month and that the children were “always dirty and hungry,” according to the affidavit. One neighbor said the older child, a toddler, had been seen eating from the dog and cat food bowls and picking up dog feces to eat, and that when told about it, Meredith “just laughed it off.” On several occasions the toddler was tied to a carport support post with a child’s backpack leash, the neighbor said, and she often wandered next door for food or tried to get into the neighbors’ swimming pool.

The neighbor’s daughter told Keech she had seen Meredith slap the toddler in the mouth and on the back, pull her hair and spank her excessively, and that she once watched Meredith perform the “bicycle” maneuver, used to relieve gas in infants, so roughly on the baby, shoving her knees into her ribs and stomach, that the baby cried hysterically. The neighbor’s husband said Meredith had left the baby with them overnight twice, once for 48 hours without checking on her, and that both children were “always hungry and filthy.”

Another neighbor told Keech that Knight had asked her to watch the baby one day because the electricity at the couple’s home had been cut off for nonpayment and it was too hot inside. Knight told her the baby was fussy and showed her how to do the bicycle maneuver, the affidavit says.

A woman Meredith had lived with while pregnant told Keech in July that the couple screamed at each other constantly, smoked marijuana wax and weed in their room with the children present, and that Knight picked the baby up with his fingers across her upper back, was lax about supporting her head and pushed her knees into her rib cage roughly when doing the bicycle maneuver. When corrected, he would say “this is my kid, I got it,” she said. She evicted them, and they moved into a storage shed in another man’s backyard before moving into his house, the affidavit says. That man told Keech he had seen a lot of arguing but nothing physical, and that the couple moved out shortly after police interviewed them.

Keech’s affidavit sought a warrant on a single count of first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor. A magistrate signed the warrant Sept. 23, and Keech served it Sept. 30, according to the return of service. Meredith was no longer listed on the jail’s roster Tuesday. Prosecutors filed the broader charges in circuit court Tuesday afternoon. The case is 63CR-26-747. No attorney had entered an appearance for Meredith as of Tuesday evening.