Warren suspect says he stepped on, submerged infant girl in shower

A Warren County man told a detective he stepped on and submerged his girlfriend’s 1-year-old daughter while trying to rinse conditioner from his hair during a shower, then struck her head on a door knob while carrying the infant to her mother, according to testimony on Tuesday in Warren County Court.

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Detective Brandi Carter testified during a court hearing that Tyler Ward, 22, of Morrow, gave her this information in explaining what happened on Feb. 14, prompting the infant girl to be treated at Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center.

Ward was showering as the infant was bathing, according to testimony.

“While he was trying to rinse conditioner and shampoo out of his hair, he full, these are his words, full body weight stepped on the child. She was submerged. First he said for a minute, then he changed it to 30, 40 seconds she was submerged under the water,” Carter testified.

Ward is charged with felonious assault and child endangering in the case.

Judge Robert Fischer left bond to be posted for Ward’s release at $250,000.

MORE: Father convicted of assaulting infant son

On Feb 14, Morrow police and the Salem Twp. Fire Department were dispatched at 3:22 p.m. to the duplex on Second Street in Morrow about an infant that had stopped, but then resumed, breathing in a possible drowning.

The infant was taken to the children’s hospital’s satellite facility in Butler County before being transported to the main hospital in Cincinnati.

At the hospital, doctors determined her injuries were consistent with an assault, Carter said during the hearing.

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On Tuesday, the infant was in foster care after her release from the hospital following treatment for bruises on her head and elevated liver enzymes, Carter said in her testimony.

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Ward’s lawyer, Frank Schiavone IV, questioned Carter about the investigation and suggested the mother, who has not been charged, was rough with the child and could have been responsible for a rib fracture that was already healing when she was treated on Feb. 14.

“I couldn’t tell you what caused that,” Carter said.

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Schiavone also noted the child’s injuries did not include any broken bones and emphasized Ward’s family would support him if he was released, before urging Fischer to lower the bond.

Fischer left the bond at $250,000, while Ward awaits consideration of the case by a grand jury.

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