The parents of a one-month-old infant were arrested Tuesday after they admitted to dropping the child on his head while they were high.
Belinda Messer-Warren and Jefferson Hewell, both 27, are charged with neglect of a dependent, a felony.
An ambulance responded at about 2 a.m. Tuesday to an apartment on the 2600 block of East Second Street, where Messer-Warren and Hewell, who are transient, were staying with friends, Bloomington Police Department Sgt. Dana Cole said. The infant and Messer-Warren went to Bloomington Hospital.
Tests at the hospital showed the child had sustained a skull fracture and a cephalohematoma, or bleeding under the skin on the back of the skull. Meanwhile, Messer-Warren gave several different explanations of the injury to hospital staff, who became suspicious and called the Department of Child Services.
During its investigation, DCS called in BPD, Cole said. The infant was taken by ambulance to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis, and Messer-Warren was taken to police headquarters for an interview.
In an interview with a detective, Messer-Warren gave several conflicting statements. Eventually, she admitted she and Hewell had gone at about 11:30 p.m. Monday to a friend's apartment on the 3200 block of East Longview Avenue. There, they each smoked a large amount of marijuana. Messer-Warren told the detective it was the first time she'd smoked marijuana since she found out she was pregnant about seven months ago.
As they left the apartment, they put the child in a combination car seat-stroller. Messer-Warren told the detective she thought she'd buckled him in, but in hindsight believed she may have forgotten to.
As they left the basement apartment, Hewell picked up the stroller to carry it up the stairs. When they reached the top, the stroller shifted and the child fell out and landed on his head on the concrete.
Hewell and Messer-Warren, along with the baby, returned to the Second Street apartment. There, they noticed the child wasn't acting right and called 911.
Hewell was also brought to the police headquarters, where he gave the same story as Messer-Warren. They were both arrested and taken to Monroe County Correctional Center.
The child is still at Riley Hospital, where he's under observation and receiving more tests, Cole said. The injury does not appear to be life-threatening.
Jack Evans
