Child abuse charges have been dropped against a Wisconsin man, following a family’s dispute of the incident.
According to Law&Crime, police arrested Jaimann Eiland, 32, in March on charges of substantial battery with a domestic abuse modifier and child abuse.
Police initially accused him of “intentionally throwing” his 1-year-old step-granddaughter off of a balcony during a fight with the child’s mother, 25-year-old Shakira Walters.
The incident happened at a home in the4 700 block of North 41st Street, in Milwaukee. The infant fell around 15 feet from a balcony and was taken to the Children’s Hospital with abrasions and bruises.
In court Tuesday, the state dismissed those charges, according to FOX 6.
“The state is dismissing count one of child abuse due to evidentiary limitations, one significant issue involves SW’s credibility,” Assistant District Attorney Thomas Hasle said.
“While SW alleges the defendant intentionally threw the baby off the porch, multiple other witnesses, including her own family members, present a contradiction to her account.”
Walters’ credibility was also considered a factor after the court heard that she was arrested in April for allegedly abusing her two older children.
According to a criminal complaint, she struck the children, ages 8 and 10, with a belt after one child cracked an egg over the other child’s head.
The children later told police they watched a YouTube video that said an egg makes hair grow longer, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports.
“I came in and whooped his butt. … I use the belt for them. It ain’t like I mean I picked up a broom stick or something,” she reportedly told police.
One of the children, however, told police he had been hit on the arms and back. The other child said he had been hit on the buttocks but was confused since he didn’t crack the egg.
Meanwhile, Eiland’s attorney, Jason Baltz, argued that Eiland spent nearly half a year behind bars for an incident he was innocent of.
“Where does a 32-year-old man go to get his reputation back?” Baltz said. “The whole first page of Google for Mr. Eiland is about how he dropped or threw a baby off the balcony that simply did not happen.”
“This case was problematic from the get-go. Problems with the investigation with the relations between the investigator and the victim. I believe there was a family relation.”
Eiland pleaded guilty to lesser charges, including two counts of misdemeanor battery and one count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
He will serve no additional jail time after serving 159 days.
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[Feature Photo via Milwaukee PD]
