An unlicensed home daycare owner accused of severely beating a vomiting baby so hard that he was left blind and brain damaged.
27-years-old Paige Hatfield was found guilty on charges of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm, a felony, and operating an unlicensed daycare, a misdemeanor.
Ashleigh Garcia-Gilbert‘s infant son, Kingston, had been in Hatfield’s care just 11 days when on January 31, 2017, prosecutors said the caregiver inflicted severe injuries on the baby.
Hatfield called 911 that day, reporting that the infant was vomiting. Doctors at Children’s Mercy Hospital where Kingston was taken for treatment diagnosed the boy with ‘abusive head trauma,’ which they concluded was caused by ‘violent non-accidental physical trauma’ resulting from ‘extreme violence’.
Kingston survived after spending 18 days in the intensive care unit, only to emerge blind and suffering from serious developmental delays.
"We spent 18 days in the I.C.U. just praying that he got through,” Garcia said. “We were told by doctors he is never going to be the same boy. I mean, we pretty much had to grieve the loss of our child and accept that the baby that we were bringing home was not the baby that I dropped off at daycare that day."
Hatfield is scheduled to be sentenced March 28.
