A Vancouver woman appeared Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court, accused of causing brain injuries to her 15-month-old nephew, who was temporarily in her care.
Anahi Moreno Reyes, 26, appeared on suspicion of first-degree assault of a child. Her bail was set at $100,000, and she is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 14, court records show.
On Nov. 22, Clark County sheriff’s deputies were contacted about the baby being at Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland with new and old brain injuries, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Social workers informed deputies Moreno Reyes brought the boy to an emergency room Nov. 14 and again Nov. 16 because of vomiting and periods of being unresponsive. Each time, they were discharged, until Nov. 21, when she took the baby to Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham, Ore. From there, the boy was taken via ambulance to Randall Children’s Hospital, court records state.
At the Portland hospital, the baby was diagnosed with new and old brain bleeds in multiple areas. Moreno Reyes reported the boy falls and hits his head occasionally, according to the affidavit. Medical staff couldn’t come up with a medical explanation for the injuries.
Investigators said Moreno Reyes told them, through a Spanish interpreter, that she’d been caring for her nephew for three months. She said she is the baby’s sole caregiver and that he cries often, court records state.
She told deputies she also cares for her three biological children and works at night. She reported she gets about 1½ hours of sleep at night, according to the affidavit.
Moreno Reyes said there were two times when the boy hit his head, and she showed deputies photos of a bruise on his head after one incident, court records state. Investigators said the injury did not match her account of what happened.
Deputies also interviewed Moreno Reyes’ significant other, who said he came home from work about two weeks prior and saw a bruise on the boy’s head. He said Moreno Reyes didn’t offer an explanation for the injury. He also said Moreno Reyes told him about the boy falling and hitting his head occasionally, but he’d never witnessed him do that, court records state.
