A Marathon man has been arrested, accused of causing severe injury to an infant who was hospitalized following repeated abuse.
The child, who was born in December, was brought in to Mariner’s Hospital on March 8. He was subsequently airlifted to Miami Children’s Hospital, where he underwent treatment for what the Child Protection Team medical examination report called “horrific physical child abuse, recurrent and was at a level of potential lethality.” That assessment was reportedly confirmed by doctors who treated him at Miami Children’s Hospital. He had a head injury, numerous broken ribs, and had human sized bite marks on both of his knees, to the point where the bites lacerated the skin. Doctors also found evidence of possible previous abuse.
The child’s identity cannot be released; Florida law prohibits the release of the identity of a victim of possible child abuse, or any information which might identify the victim of child abuse. Detectives with the Sheriff’s Office Crimes Against Women and Children’s Unit were assigned to investigate the case. On March 15, 23 year old Dominic Davis admitted to Detective Deborah Ryan he was the one who caused the bite marks. He claimed to not know how the child’s other injuries happened.
Subsequently, a witness told the detective she saw Davis on several occasions treating the child “roughly”, to the point where the child would cry and she thought the child was in pain. In the detectives words, Davis on several occasions, held the child tightly around the torso, “violently extending and retracting his own arms without making any attempt to support the infant’s arms and legs. This repeated action most likely caused multiple fractured ribs…”
Detective Ryan’s investigation into the circumstances of the injuries determined Davis was responsible for abusing the child. Today, he was charged with aggravated child abuse, a first degree felony, and he was booked into jail. His bond is set at $500,000.00. The child has been released from the hospital and is currently being cared for under the auspices of the Florida Department of Children and Families.
