Baby unexpectedly dies four months after being shaken
Four months ago a South Bend baby was shaken so violently eight of her ribs broke.
Now there could be new charges against her father.
According to court records, Vernice Frazier admitted to shaking the infant when she was just 4 weeks old because he said she wouldn’t stop crying.
That baby girl died unexpectedly last Sunday.
On Wednesday, the St. Joseph County prosecutor’s office confirmed it’s looking into whether her death was a direct result of that shaking.
Vernice Frazier was actually scheduled to have a hearing today about the initial violent incident, but that got pushed back to April 26th, because an autopsy hasn’t yet confirmed the cause and manner of the baby girl’s death.
This stems from the incident that happened on December 2nd around 9 p.m.
The Special Victim’s Unit was contacted by DCS after the baby was brought into St. Joe Regional Medical Center for broken ribs.
Doctors there determined the breaks were a result of shaking. Soon after that parents were contacted and agreed to get interviewed by police.
At first Frazier said he could’ve rolled over on to the baby while napping. Later in the interrogation Frazier confessed, according to these records.
The mother, Doretha Briggins was also interviewed. She first denied knowing of the injuries then later admitted that she knew what happened.
ABC57 reached out to the family today, but no one answered their door.