PROVO, Utah, Jan. 17, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A 21-year-old Provo woman has been booked into the Utah County jail after her infant son was found to have multiple serious injuries believed to be the result of child abuse.
Sydney Michele Kennedy was arrested for investigation of aggravated murder (attempted), a first-degree felony.
Provo detectives were alerted on Tuesday that the 3-month-old boy was airlifted Monday from the Utah Valley Hospital emergency room to Primary Children’s Hospital, in Salt Lake City.
“When the infant arrived at Primary Children’s, the doctors discovered three separate skull fractures, and active brain bleed that required immediate surgery. The doctor at Primary Children’s told me that if that infant had not been immediately flown to their facility for surgery the infant most likely would have passed away from the severity of the brain injury.
“Later the same doctor called me back and stated that further scans showed multiple rib fractures, a clavicle fracture, (and) bleeding behind the eyes consistent with shaken baby and brain swelling. The doctor described that one of the skull fractures was the size of the palm of the hand and the bone was completely displaced from the bone around it and was displaced causing pressure on the brain that had to be dealt with in surgery.”
The doctor told the PPD officers Tuesday that “the infant’s status was still critical. The medical staff was concerned because the infant’s parents had left the hospital late last night (Monday) and had not returned or made contact for updates on the infant’s status, and were not available for medical staff to ask important medical history questions related to the infant.”
Provo detectives went to the home of the infant’s parents, and both were taken in for questioning.
“The baby’s father admitted that he had concerns about that infant’s safety with the mother. And even expressed that a few days ago Sydney, the mother, told him that she was not sure if she should be alone with her baby,” and that his work keeps him away from home during the day and sometimes into the night. He also said his wife often called him home from work “and could not handle the baby, and asked him to come home to take care of the infant victim.”
Sydney Kennedy “admitted to getting angry because the infant was crying and would not eat,” her affidavit says. “Sydney admitted to shaking the baby in the living room and then going into her bedroom. Sydney said the infant still would not eat and she threw the baby bottle, and then threw the 3-month-old infant onto her bed. The infant hit the bed and then bounced onto the floor.”
After that, Kennedy noticed the infant was dazed and breathing abnormally, and his legs were jerking, her affidavit says. She called the baby’s father at work and said they needed to go to the hospital, the court document says.
Told by investigators of the extent of her son’s injuries, and that they were not from the same time or incident, “Sydney admitted to getting angry and frustrated and shaking the infant on at least three occasions. Sydney admitted to throwing the infant into the bassinet or changing table with such force that the infant would hit his head on the bars of the furniture.”
She admitted the infant “would cry out in pain after she would do this, but she said she did not know it was severe enough to cause skull fractures and broken bones.” She also admitted to squeezing the baby’s torso when she shook him, her arrest document says.
The baby’s survival is still in question, the affidavit says, and “and is likely to have severe medical difficulties if it does survive.”
Kennedy was ordered held without bail.
