Two individuals have been accused of child abuse following the admission of a four-month-old to OU Children’s Hospital. The infant was found to have fractures, a brain bleed, bruising, and lacerations to the liver and spleen.
The medical staff informed the police that the child was brought in on March 30 by the parents, Clarissa Skurzewski and Christopher Kelley.
Skurzewski witnessed a child displaying seizure-like behaviors, with his arms stretched and clenched into fists, and his eyes rolling back.
During an interview, Skurzewski acknowledged that she and Kelley unintentionally neglected to secure the child in his car seat on March 24. As a result of adverse weather and heavy traffic, they had to abruptly apply the brakes.
Kelley mentioned that the child had been thrown around, but no medical attention was sought.
During a follow-up interview, Kelley confessed to accidentally dropping a truck tire on the child.
Kelley admitted to forcefully placing a truck tire in the backseat, inadvertently striking the head of the 4-month-old child in the car seat.
According to Kelley, when he reached his destination, the tire had unfortunately fallen on top of the child.
According to medical staff, the child would have been protected by the car seat, and they believe that symptoms would have appeared earlier in both incidents.
According to the police, the parents did not provide any information about accidents that could have caused the child’s injuries during the interviews.
Medical professionals concluded that the injuries were the result of abuse.
Kelley and Skurzewski are being charged with child physical abuse.