Toddler suffers ‘severe’ injuries from beating mother arrested

MUSKEGON COUNTY, MI – A toddler was severely beaten and her father stabbed, allegedly by the child's mother, early Friday morning, according to Muskegon Heights police.

The 39-year-old woman who was acting "erratically" when police responded to calls for help is expected to be charged with three felonies, including first-degree child abuse, said Muskegon Heights Police Chief Joseph E. Thomas Jr.

The 11-month-old girl suffered a broken skull and multiple bruises on her head and shoulders, Thomas said. She was transported to Mercy Health's Hackley Campus in Muskegon before being transferred for more advanced care at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, he said.

Thomas called the child's wounds "very severe."

The baby's father, who is the suspect's husband, was treated at Hackley for a stab wound to the back, Thomas said.

In addition to the child abuse charge, police are asking the prosecutor to issue charges for felonious assault -- for the alleged assault on the child's father -- and resisting and obstructing police, Thomas said.

Police were called to the 2900 block of Seventh Street in Muskegon Heights around 12:30 a.m. May 15, Thomas said.

"The husband said she's been acting strange, very erratically, and that she had assaulted her baby," Thomas said.

The woman fought with, and acted strangely toward, officers as they took her into custody, the chief said.

"She was acting erratically with the officer," Thomas said. "She wanted to dance with the officer … and (was) saying crazy things to the officer."

He said the woman may have been under the influence of some sort of substance.

Her husband said "she stabbed him because he was watching TV – hooked on TV, whatever that means," Thomas said.

No other children were in the home, and staff from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services also responded to the scene, he said.

Thomas said assaults among family members have become a particular concern during the stay-home order due to the coronavirus crisis.

"Domestic assault is the number one crime right now," he said.

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