Telegraph Staff Writer
STARKE— Bradford deputies arrested a 37-year-old Hampton man after a child he cared for was diagnosed with head trauma and put into a medically induced coma due to her injuries.
Calvin Holbert Carter, 37, was arrested on April 24 for child abuse with great bodily harm and for a probation violation.
According to an arrest warrant affidavit, the defendant was the last person alone with the child before she was taken to UF Shands on Saturday, April 22, for unknown injuries.
“After evaluation by hospital staff,” wrote Bradford Detective Michael Garmon in a warrant affidavit, “it was determined that (the victim) was suffering from a severe brain bleed, a 10mm right to left midline shift, cerebral herniation, brainstem compression and cerebral edema.”
The detective added that the child was rushed into neurosurgery and has been in a medically induced coma since the operation.
Garmon wrote that he interviewed the defendant and witnesses about Carter’s contact with the victim in the days leading up to the child’s admission to the hospital.
The detective also wrote that he spoke with a physician with the University of Florida’s Child Protection Team, who told him brain bleed could only be caused by severe trauma to the head.
“Since no marks could be seen on (the victim’s) head, the only other option would be a car wreck or for (the victim) to have been previously shaken,” wrote Garmon. “Since no car wreck had happened, the only conclusion was for (the victim) to have been violently shaken.”
Garmon added that the doctor said she had seen the victim and reviewed her charts. The detective wrote that the physician said the shaking incident likely occurred 72 hours before the child’s surgery.
