A Marietta mother shook her 10-month-old daughter so hard that the baby lost the use of its limbs and died, police said.
Sadai Higgenbotham has been charged with felony murder in the death of her daughter Laura, the name of whom jail records show Higgenbotham has tattooed on her right leg.
A Cobb County police warrant accuses the mother of “violently shaking” the girl, causing blood to pool between her brain and skull. Police did not say what preceded the alleged shaking.
Investigators wrote that Higgenbotham was “aware something was not right with her child but refused to get the child any medical treatment.”
It isn’t clear how the child got to a hospital, but police went to the WellStar Urgent Care on Delk Road on a call of an unconscious child being given CPR, said officer Alicia Chilton, Cobb police spokeswoman.
The hospital is less than a mile from the address for the apartment complex where Higgenbotham is listed as living.
The girl was then taken to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite in critical condition, Chilton said. The child died on Aug. 8.
Medical staff confirmed that the injuries were those of shaken baby syndrome, the warrant said.
“The hospital staff also confirmed the child’s injury was more than a day old, which meant the child has been experiencing pain and suffering for a period of time,” investigators wrote.
The police department has refused to release the arrest report, citing public records laws regarding child abuse and neglect.
In addition to Higgenbotham, Sidrick Melancon, was also arrested in the child’s death. Melancon is accused of telling Higgenbotham and a witness to lie to investigators.
He was booked into Cobb jail on two charges of influencing a witness. Melancon is also listed as a fugitive out of Louisiana.
Police list Melancon and Higgenbotham as living in the same apartment complex near Interstate 75 between Terrell Mill and Delk roads. It is unclear if they live together.
Both Higgenbotham and Melancon remained in jail as of Monday afternoon.
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