Parents Arrested After 10-month-old Found With ‘CIGARETTE LIGHTER BURNS AND BITE MARKS Marks,’ Police Report
In North Carolina, a 29-year-old father and a 31-year-old mother have been arrested and charged with beating their 10-month-old child. The child was found with bite marks and burns from a cigarette lighter.
The police arrested Martavious Levar Smith and Shalisa Monai Lowe over the weekend and charged them with one count of felony intentional child abuse resulting in major bodily injury.
A news release from the Iredell County Sheriff’s Office says that on Tuesday, July 23, 2024, patrol officers went to a home in the 100 block of Powder Horn Road to check on a 10-month-old child’s safety. Authorities said that the baby’s family called the sheriff’s office because they saw “bruises and other unexplained markings on the child’s body.”
When police and emergency medical workers from the county got to the scene, they found the child and saw right away that the child had “several bruises and injuries.”
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The baby was taken to Iredell Memorial Hospital by paramedics to get medical care. Police said that the doctors who checked out the baby’s injuries found them to be “consistent with physical abuse.” Due to how badly the baby was hurt, he or she was taken to Brenner’s Children’s Hospital to be checked out and treated further.
Detectives from the Sheriff’s Criminal Investigations Division took over the case and talked to family members and other possible witnesses. They also looked at the medical records from the two hospitals to gather more information.
According to the news release, medical professionals at Brenner’s Children’s Hospital found that the child’s injuries were caused by purposeful physical abuse. Some of the injuries looked like they were caused by cigarette lighter burns and bite marks. The parents of the victim spoke out during the investigation, which led to both of them being charged with felony intentional child abuse causing major bodily injury.
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Smith and Lowe were arrested on July 27 and taken to the Iredell County Detention Center to be checked in. Stanley Watkins, the magistrate judge for Iredell County, told police to hold Smith without a $10,000 guaranteed bond. Lowe was told to post a bond of $80,000 to be held.
Authorities stressed that the sheriff’s office is still looking into the claimed abuse with the help of the Iredell County Department of Social Services.
The family member who called the sheriff’s office told Lawandcrime and Telemundo affiliates in Charlotte, North Carolina, about what happened.
The person, who did not want to be named, told the station that they felt they had to call the police because they were turned down when they told the parents that the baby’s injuries needed medical care right away. One of the family members also said that the baby was no longer in the hospital and was doing much better.
A neighbor told the police that Lowe often played outside with the victim and other kids, and that it “looked like she was a great mother.”