CLAY COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) – A father is facing charges after his 3-month-old was taken to the emergency room with damage to both lungs and a swollen eye.
According to a criminal complaint, the Summersville detachment of West Virginia State Police was notified regarding a possible case of child abuse on Saturday, March 22, after an infant in need of urgent medical care was taken to the emergency room.
Officials say the 3-month-old arrived with injuries that medical staff said were clearly the result of abuse.
When the officer arrived at the hospital, bruising on both sides of the infant’s ribcage was observed, the complaint states.
According to the officer, bruising on the left side of the infant was in the outline of someone’s fingers, consistent with a squeeze or slap.
The infant also had dried blood under its nostrils and a swollen or droopy left eye, officials said.
The infant was transferred to a children’s pediatric unit with severe damage to both lungs, petechiae in the eyes and blood work suggesting organ damage, the criminal complaint stated.
While in the emergency room, the child’s mother told officials she noticed the injuries after picking the baby up from a custody exchange.
Officers then traveled to the home of Timothy Ferrebee, the baby’s father.
Ferrebee stated to officers that while changing the infants’ diaper the night before, he noticed the marks and bruising.
Later and in a written statement, Ferrebee admitted to squeezing the baby in an attempt to relive it of constipation pain because the 3-month-old was persistently crying.
He told officers he hadn’t intentionally caused harm to the infant.
After being arrested, Ferrebee told officers he was “frustrated from a long day at work and that the infant was just what happened to be in front of him.”
Two other children of Ferrebee’s were temporarily removed from the home by the CPS.
The criminal complaint states that, given the way the infant was squeezed along with the evidence on the infant’s body, the officer wrote that he is certain the infant was asphyxiated during the incident.
Ferrebee was charged with strangulation and child abuse causing serious bodily injury.
Ferrebee is in the Central Regional Jail.
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