Photo: Ashton Vanzant
REDDING – On the evening of March 27th a three-month-old girl was brought into Mercy Medical Center suffering from what was suspected to be a brain bleed.
The parents of the child were in the emergency room. Officers interviewed the parents, and the father, 22-year-old Ashton Vanzant explained that he had accidentally dropped the baby onto a piece of furniture.
However, investigators found that Vanzant had searched on the internet for “shaken baby syndrome” and jail sentences for shaken baby offenders.” These searches were conducted after the incident had occurred.
When Vanzant was confronted with inconsistencies to his story, he confessed that he had shaken the baby after being frustrated that she would not stop crying.
After further care, the baby was listed as being in stable condition. The father now faces charges of child abuse, attempted murder and great bodily injury.
