A 19-year-old man is awaiting arraignment at the Washtenaw County Jail for causing severe internal injuries to his girlfriend’s 2-year-old child earlier this week, police said Friday.
Ann Arbor police Detective William Stanford said the child was taken to University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital early Thursday after the woman discovered the child was vomiting and having trouble breathing. The woman had left the child in the care of her boyfriend while she was at work on Wednesday, Stanford said.
The child was taken via ambulance to the intensive care unit, where doctors discovered a lacerated liver and lacerated spleen, among other internal injuries. Hospital officials notified police, who discovered the child had been abused, Stanford said.
“He threw the kid across the room, basically,” the detective said.
The 19-year-old man was taken into custody on an unrelated warrant. During an interview with investigators, the man confessed to injuring the child deliberately, Stanford said.
Police said the incident took place Wednesday evening in the 2700 block of Hikone Drive. The woman called 911 after she noticed bruising on the child.
The man could be arraigned as early as Friday afternoon if a warrant is approved by prosecutors in time.
The woman has four other children, Stanford said. Police continue to investigate if any of them also were injured by the man.
Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.