FORT WALTON BEACH — A man was arrested Saturday after Okaloosa County sheriff's deputies say he severely injured an 8-week-old baby.
As of 6 p.m. Saturday, the baby was unresponsive in the Intensive Care Unit at Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola, according to a news release from the Sheriff’s Office. She was given a “slight” chance of survival, the Sheriff’s Office reported.
Deputies arrested 23-year-old William Thomason of Fort Walton Beach at his home Saturday morning.
The child had been brought to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center’s emergency room Friday evening. Deputies were called there about 6:30 p.m.
The baby had bruising on her left leg, neck and chest, and had suffered a broken collarbone and severe head trauma. The injuries were consistent with “shaken baby with sudden impact,” the Sheriff’s Office reported.
She was airlifted to Sacred Heart.
The child’s mother had left her with Thomason about 12:45 p.m. Friday. When she returned at about 4:30 p.m., the baby couldn’t hold her head up, Thomason’s arrest report said. Her eyes were “rolled in the back of her head,” it said.
Thomason later told deputies he was alone with the baby after she was left in his care.
Thomason gave deputies several possibilities of what happened, according to his arrest report. He first blamed the dog and then told deputies the baby may have been hit her head on a faucet while he gave her a bath in a sink.
Thomason has been charged with aggravated child abuse. He was in the county jail Saturday night with no bond.