Inset: Gabriel King (Peoria State’s Attorney’s Office). Background: Bartonville County Police Dept. (Google Maps).
A 24-year-old father from Illinois was taken into custody on charges of severely injuring his newborn daughter, leading to three separate brain bleeds. He informed authorities that he felt “overstimulated and overwhelmed” by the responsibilities of parenting.
Gabriel King was taken into custody and charged with one count of felony aggravated battery, authorities announced Wednesday.
Peoria County State’s Attorney’s Office released a statement revealing that a caseworker from the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services visited the Bartonville Police Department on June 3 to report a case of child abuse.
The caseworker had earlier visited a local hospital where the victim’s mother disclosed that she had been with the baby on May 31 and June 1. The mother confirmed that the child had not shown any signs of injury during those times.
The child allegedly suffered the severe injuries the following day, when she was in the care of her father.
“On June 2, the mother left the baby with King while she went to work,” prosecutors wrote in the news release. “That afternoon, King called her to say that the baby was crying uncontrollably and would not calm down. When the mother returned home that evening, the baby was screaming in a way she had never heard before, and she noticed bruising when she changed the baby’s diaper, so they took the baby to the hospital.”
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Medical personnel at the hospital told authorities that the newborn had suffered a series of severe injuries, including “three separate brain bleeds,” a fracture to her upper arm, and multiple bruises that covered her body.
King was subsequently detained and questioned by investigators. During the interview, King allegedly stated that while he was watching the baby, he became “overstimulated and overwhelmed.”
“He mentioned that the baby fell and that he had grabbed the baby’s arm,” the release states. “Additionally, King reported that the baby might have hit something and that he may have handled the baby too roughly, but he could not recall much of what transpired that day. King was arrested on Friday.”
Additional evidence against King included the doctor who treated his daughter telling authorities that the “patterned bruising” on the victim indicated that her injuries were “not accidental but rather the result of child abuse.”
Associate Judge Mark Gilles on Tuesday presided over King’s detention hearing and granted the State’s “petition to detain,” meaning that he will remain in jail until his trial, court records show.
Police emphasized that the investigation remains ongoing.
