A Nebraska couple has been charged with child abuse resulting in death after their 4-month-old daughter died earlier this month.
An autopsy indicated that the baby girl died from a traumatic brain injury consistent with shaken baby syndrome, police said in court documents, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
Ryan Greenwood, 36, called 911 at about 5:20 a.m. on August 14, telling dispatchers that he had checked on the little girl about 30 minute after waking up and found her dead.
According to KOLN, Greenwood told officers he had been “playing rough” with the infant the night before, causing her to cry uncontrollably. He said he gave her a bottle and put her to bed late that night. Hours later, he said, his wife noticed that the child hadn’t awakened as she usually did. Greenwood said he checked on her, attempted CPR, and then called his mother before calling 911.
But Tanya Greenwood, 28, told a different story. She said she had come home from grocery shopping the day before and found the infant crying “the worst cry I had ever heard.” She said she wanted to take the child for medical treatment, but her husband told her no.
A child abuse specialist at Children’s Hospital said that the injuries the child suffered were not accidental and that immediate medical care could have saved her life.
Law&Crime reported that Tanya Greenwood said she had seen her husband shake the infant on at least one occasion and squeeze her leg tightly another time. Tanya Greenwood reported searched for information on shaken baby syndrome after the infant was dead.
Both parents are being held on bonds of $1.5 million each and are due in court on October 1.
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[Featured image: Tanya and Ryan Greenwood/Lancaster County Jail]
