Inset: Marisela Hernandez Rios (Louisville Metro Police Department). Background: The Louisville Metro Police Department (Google Maps).
A 30-year-old Kentucky mother is accused of nearly killing her infant daughter, allegedly shaking the baby multiple times and causing injuries so severe that doctors had to perform lifesaving surgery.
Marisela Hernandez Rios was taken into custody Thursday and charged with one count of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree criminal abuse or neglect of a child, authorities announced.
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According to a press release from the Louisville Metro Police Department, the investigation began after Child Protective Services alerted LMPD’s Office of Sexual and Physical Investigations about an infant suffering from suspicious injuries at Norton Children’s Hospital.
Police did not publicly release details about the victim’s injuries, asserting that such information was “disturbing and not appropriate to share on social media,” but said the report from the hospital prompted “an immediate and thorough response” from detectives.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by local ABC affiliate WHAS provided additional information about the events leading up to Hernandez Rios’ arrest.
Police said that when the baby first arrived at the hospital, she was unresponsive and suffering from a brain bleed.
Asked what had happened, Hernandez Rios allegedly offered no explanation for her daughter’s catastrophic injuries.
Hernandez Rios reportedly told the hospital staff that her daughter had been lying on a “Boppy” pillow when she turned away briefly. When she looked back, she supposedly found her daughter limp and not breathing, police said.
Doctors subsequently discovered multiple brain bleeds, hemorrhaging in both eyes and bruising on the infant’s hips. The child also had scabbing behind both ears, with one nurse describing the victim as being “very dirty,” according to WHAS.
Doctors performed lifesaving surgery because of what LMPD described as the “near-fatal injuries the baby endured during the assault,” Lexington CBS affiliate WKYT reported. An MRI showed the extent of the infant’s injuries.
When questioned by police, Hernandez Rios allegedly admitted that she repeatedly shook her daughter in the days before she was hospitalized. Using a stuffed animal provided by a CPS worker, she reportedly demonstrated how she shook the victim.
Hernandez Rios appeared in court Friday morning for her arraignment, where a judge ordered her to remain in detention on $250,000 bond. She is scheduled to return to court Oct. 2 for her preliminary hearing, records show.
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