Background: A section of the 5500 block of South Handley Street in Wichita, Kansas (Google Maps). Inset: Kevin Mitchell (Sedgwick County Sheriff”s Office).
In a troubling case from Kansas, a man stands accused of critically injuring a 1-year-old by swinging her around until she slipped from his grasp and struck her head.
Kevin Mitchell, aged 30, faces charges of child abuse, as per records from the local jail. He remains in custody at Sedgwick County Jail with bail set at $75,000, where he has been held since December 17.
Although the charges were filed last month, further information has surfaced recently.
According to a criminal affidavit submitted in Sedgwick County District Court, Mitchell was at a residence on the 5500 block of South Handley Street in Wichita on December 16. He was tasked with looking after three children, aged 2 years, 1 year, and 6 months, while their mother was away donating plasma.
The affidavit, reviewed by Law&Crime, indicates that Mitchell was spinning with the 1-year-old girl in his arms when he stumbled over the bed, causing her to “fly” from his arms toward the wall. The child hit the floor, and upon picking her up, Mitchell realized she was struggling to breathe.
After unsuccessfully trying to revive her by blowing into her nose and mouth, Mitchell took the child to his mother, who apparently also resided in the home, and she instructed him to call 911.
First responders arrived at the scene at about 5:30 p.m., with a captain of the Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Services contacting the Wichita Police Department “since this did not appear to be a medical issue.” Detectives arrived to find the child “in the living room, on her back on top of the couch unresponsive,” police said. Her eyes were “fixed and dilated and did not respond to light.”
Mitchell told authorities that he had been “playing” with the child, but he denied that she had hit her head and said he did not know if she had fallen, the affidavit states. When the EMS captain took the child to the ambulance, “he observed a bruise on her left temple.”
The infant was also found to have had bruises on her left leg, stomach, and chest. She was placed in the pediatric intensive care unit of a nearby hospital in “extremely critical condition.”
Detectives continued investigating what happened, and they spoke to the child’s mother. She reportedly admitted to spanking her 1-year-old daughter and said that when she “must” physically discipline her kids, she “usually just slaps them with an open hand on the thigh.”
The woman also said that she once saw Mitchell discipline the infant “by grabbing her face around her mouth when she was not behaving.” The mother’s name was redacted from the document, and there was no indication she was or will be charged in the case.
Investigators also spoke with Mitchell several times. He allegedly admitted that the child victim was “acting normally” before he began “swinging” her around — and though he initially claimed ignorance as to how she hurt her head, he ultimately told officers about how she “flew” out of his arms and “struck her head on the windowsill/shelf.”
Mitchell is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Feb. 2.
