A Vancouver man is being held on $300,000 bail after he was accused of causing multiple brain injuries to his 3-month-old daughter.
Elijah I. Partida, 22, appeared Wednesday via video in Clark County Superior Court on a warrant for first-degree assault of a child-domestic violence. He will be arraigned on the charge Aug. 26.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, a medical exam revealed the baby suffered brain bleeding and fractures to four lower ribs near the spine that were in various stages of healing. The court document does not detail how she was injured.
Vancouver police responded Aug. 5 to PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center. The officers were told that the victim, an infant, had been taken by air ambulance to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital in Portland. Officers contacted the baby’s parents, identified as Partida and Katija Lance, there, the affidavit says.
Both parents said the baby had been sick since about July 28, with a lack of appetite, vomiting, constipation, fever and other ailments. The symptoms continued into the weekend, and on Aug. 4, Lance took the baby to Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland for treatment. The baby started to show improvement, court records state.
On the morning of Aug. 5, Lance went to work and left the baby with Partida. Lance said she arrived at work early and decided to video call Partida to check on the baby. Partida told her the baby was unresponsive. Lance could see the baby was limp and not moving. She instructed Partida to start CPR while she called 911, according to the affidavit.
Lance got a ride home, where she met with medical personnel. She told them that when she left for work, the baby was fussy but conscious and alert, court records say.
A child abuse pediatrics specialist at the hospital said the baby’s injuries were “not likely caused by any accidental mechanism, and no history provided by the parents explained the injury,” the affidavit reads. Her injuries were compared to what is seen in “high-velocity motor vehicle collisions.” The doctor also noted the baby would have shown symptoms of her injury immediately, which Lance said she did not see before leaving for work, the affidavit states.
When interviewed by police, Partida said he didn’t know how the baby became injured. He said the baby was fussy when Lance left and appeared to have a seizure right before Lance called him, according to the affidavit.
A warrant was issued for his arrest Aug. 7.
