A Vancouver man is accused of inflicting “shaken baby syndrome” on his 3-month-old son, causing multiple brain bleeds and fractured ribs.
Rickie D. Williams, 21, appeared Tuesday in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of first-degree assault of a child stemming from the Jan. 19 incident.
Judge Nancy Retsinas set Williams’ bail at $25,000. He is set to be arraigned March 4, according to the prosecution.
According to an affidavit of probable cause, Child Protective Services and CARES NW contacted Vancouver police Jan. 21 regarding a child hospitalized at Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland. The 3-month-old boy was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome with a brain bleed.
Doctors determined the baby suffered multiple bleeds on both sides of the brain, and found old blood from another abusive event that occurred between December and early January. The baby was apparently hospitalized previously, court records state. They also found he suffered five fractured ribs on his left side and three on his right side.
The father, identified as Williams, called 911 shortly before 4 p.m. Jan. 19 from his residence in the 2600 block of T Street to report that the baby wasn’t breathing and appeared to have bruised ribs. Williams told the 911 dispatcher the baby was “having another episode.” He said he had been cleaning when he noticed the baby suffering a seizure, the affidavit says.
“His ribs look like they’re bruised, what the (expletive)! I hope I didn’t do that. Yeah his ribs look bruised ma’am,” Williams reportedly told the dispatcher, according to the affidavit. He said he started CPR because that had saved the baby before.
The baby’s mother was at work at the time, the affidavit states.
Court records say the baby was in the care of his maternal grandmother for 24 hours and dropped off with Williams around 3 p.m. Jan. 19. The grandmother said the baby’s mother denied either parent had shaken him; however, the grandmother said she believed Williams harmed the child. The child’s great-grandmother also reported seeing him earlier that day and said he was behaving normally then, according to the affidavit.
