UINTAH COUNTY, Utah (ABC4) – A Uintah County foster father has been accused of abusing an 8-month-old baby in his care, causing life-threatening injuries.
Skyler Cox, 37, has been charged with the second degree felony of aggravated child abuse after police were notified of the unresponsive infant due after being bathed.
Police say on Wednesday, Dec. 14, Cox’s wife called 911 and reported the infant suffered cardiac arrest and was unresponsive. The foster parents reportedly performed CPR on the infant until paramedics arrived on the scene, who then took over.
According to the probable cause statement, the infant was taken to the emergency room where hospital staff continued to provide treatment. A doctor reportedly then told police that there were “concerning neurological indications” that suggested the infant possibly had been abused.
Through further investigation, police reportedly questioned Cox after discovering he had been the primary caregiver of the infant over the last few days. Cox allegedly told police the infant had been sick for a couple of days but then stated that the infant had only been sick “since yesterday.” Police say Cox reported giving the infant Tylenol despite no indication of a fever and the infant had thrown up on him after being fed some baby food.
“[Cox] admitted to Detectives that [the infant] cries a lot and this causes him to get frustrated with [the infant] at times,” police said in the probable cause statement. “[Cox] admitted that after he had taken [the infant] out of the bath before he had shaken and then tossed the baby on the bed due to being frustrated about him crying, but was unsure how [the infant] had landed on the bed, or if the baby had bounced at all.”
After allegedly tossing the infant onto the bed, Cox left the room and returned only when he could no longer hear the baby making any noise, which reportedly caused him to grow concerned.
Cox allegedly then took the infant to the shower to wake him up and yelled for his wife to call 911 when the infant was ultimately unresponsive. Police say Cox stated things had been “foggy” at first, but “realized he was the one that caused the baby’s medical incident” after he had spoken about shaking and throwing.
Police say a CT scan revealed the infant had suffered major trauma and brain bleed.
