Left inset: Zoe Wagenhurst. Right inset: Christian Griffin (East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Louisiana hospital where Wagenhurst’s daughter received treatment (Google Maps).
A Louisiana toddler was hospitalized with multiple serious injuries after her mother allegedly attributed facial bruising to the child sleeping with a sippy cup and slipping in dog urine, police said. Medical staff later identified broken bones, a skull hematoma and bleeding behind both eyes.
Zoe Wagenhurst, 25, and her boyfriend, Christian Griffin, 21, have been charged with felony second-degree cruelty to juveniles. The charges followed the Oct. 16 hospitalization of Wagenhurst’s daughter at Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital, according to arrest warrant affidavits obtained by local CBS affiliate WAFB.
Doctors reported that the girl had a fracture in her left upper arm, a healing fracture in her left leg, a hematoma near the top of her skull and retinal hemorrhages in both eyes. Investigators said the injuries were likely sustained sometime between Oct. 5 and Oct. 16.
In interviews with investigators, Wagenhurst allegedly said the bruises on her daughter’s face came from sleeping against a sippy cup and later slipping on the family dog’s urine before striking her face on the floor. She reportedly said she did not know what caused the head injury and claimed she first noticed the hematoma the morning she spoke with police.
Griffin gave investigators a comparable account, saying the child’s facial injuries may have resulted from sleeping with toys and her sippy cup, according to the affidavits.
The couple allegedly told police that the child’s arm was injured during a playdate. They said she fell while pulling a toy away from another 2-year-old. Griffin reportedly said the girl did not cry at the time, while Wagenhurst claimed they recognized a problem only after hearing the toddler crying from another room.
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However, the other child’s mother told investigators that Wagenhurst’s daughter already had bruises when she arrived. She also said she did not think the toddler had been hurt while playing with her own child, according to the affidavits.
Both Wagenhurst and Griffin allegedly admitted that they saw the girl’s arm become swollen and bruised and knew she was experiencing pain. Griffin reportedly told detectives that the child was unable to raise the arm above her shoulder at one point during the week before her hospitalization.
Police allege that neither adult sought medical attention despite witnessing those symptoms.
Court documents state that the couple shared an apartment with the toddler on Highland Road in Baton Rouge. Griffin also regularly looked after the girl while Wagenhurst was working, according to investigators.
Wagenhurst and Griffin were being held at the East Baton Rouge Parish jail, where bond had not been determined as of Monday.
The post Mom blames her toddler’s facial bruises on ‘dog’s urine’ and ‘sippy cup’ as doctors discover skull hematoma and broken bones: Police first appeared on Law & Crime.
