A St. Albans mother of a three-month old infant has been arrested and charged with first-degree assault, reckless assault of a child and endangering the welfare of a child, after she shook her daughter on two separate occasions, resulting in abusive head trauma and Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Edelyne Louis, 32, of 113-18 200th Street, was arrested on Friday, July 19, 2013 and arraigned the next day before Queens Criminal Court Judge Donna Golia. She was ordered held on bail of $200,000 bond or $150,000 cash.
“Instead of protecting and nurturing her daughter this defendant is accused of shaking the infant twice in two days to stop her from crying. The child now faces an uncertain future,” said DA Brown. He continued on to say that the case was a sad reminder that infants must never be shaken.
Louis is the biological mother of Britney Louis, and according to the charges, while she was caring for the infant at home on July 16, the baby was crying. The defendant has allegedly admitted that she was tired and frustrated and hot and that she shook her several times to get her to stop crying. The baby then quieted down and went to sleep.
The following day, while the mother was at home with the baby, the infant began crying loudly. Louis shook Britney again, until she quieted down, and then she put her in a stroller. But the baby began to vomit and spiked a fever of about 100 degrees. The defendant and her husband, Riswick Pierre, took the baby to Queens General Hospital; she was then transferred to Long Island Jewish Hospital/Cohen Children’s Medical Center.
An examination at the hospital revealed that the baby had bilateral subdural hematomas (bleeding on the brain), multi-layer retinal hemorrhages (bleeding in the eye), and a healing fracture of the righttenth posterior rib. The head injuries are consistent with abusive head trauma and Shaken Baby Syndrome and could result in chronic brain injury, including permanent developmental delay.
Edelyne Louis is scheduled to appear in court on August 5. She faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
By Samantha Geary
