A Nebraska couple has been charged with child abuse resulting in death after their 4-month-old daughter died earlier this month.
An autopsy revealed that the infant died from a traumatic brain injury consistent with shaken baby syndrome, police stated in court documents, as reported by the Lincoln Journal Star.
Ryan Greenwood, 36, called 911 at approximately 5:20 a.m. on August 14, reporting to dispatchers that he had checked on the baby about 30 minutes after waking up and discovered she was deceased.
In a report by KOLN, Greenwood admitted to officers that he had been “playing rough” with the infant the night prior, which caused her to cry uncontrollably. He explained that he had given her a bottle and put her to bed late that night. Hours later, he stated, his wife recognized that the child hadn’t woken up as usual. Greenwood said he checked on her, tried CPR, and then called his mother before alerting 911.
However, Tanya Greenwood, 28, recounted a different scenario. She reported coming home from grocery shopping the previous day to find the infant crying with “the worst cry I had ever heard.” She expressed a desire to seek medical treatment for the child, but her husband refused.
A child abuse expert at Children’s Hospital stated that the injuries the child endured were not accidental and that prompt medical intervention could have saved her life.
According to Law&Crime, Tanya Greenwood mentioned that she had witnessed her husband shaking the infant on at least one occasion and squeezing her leg tightly another time. After the infant’s death, Tanya Greenwood reportedly searched for information on shaken baby syndrome.
Both parents are being held on bonds of $1.5 million each and are due in court on October 1.
