ABSTRACT
On the first day of her new part-time job, the 22-year-old mother woke up early, leaving her three children, 4, 2, and 2 months, with her boyfriend of six months, who was unemployed. Soon after the woman left, the infant awoke, fussy. She rejected a bottle and could not be soothed with holding or music. When the 2-year-old knocked over a pan, the boyfriend screamed at her and the baby cried louder. Enraged, the man shook the baby and threw her on a bed. When the mother returned four hours later, the infant was bluish and her breathing erratic. The baby was rushed to the hospital, but died within hours. The emergency-room doctors said the baby showed signs of shaken-baby syndrome: Massive hemorrhaging in the eyes and brain, causing severe brain damage.
