5-Month-Old North Carolina Baby Found With Broken Ribs, Fractured Skull, Mother Arrested

A North Carolina woman was arrested and charged after she was accused of abusing her young child and leaving him with significant injuries. The incident took place in the 4100 Block of Market Street in Wilmington last weekend.

Authorities responded to the home of Margaritta Gabriela Deaton, 22, and found the door partially open. They called the Department of Social Services after they found a five-month-old baby inside, completely alone without anyone looking after the child.

While police waited for officials from the DSS, Deaton and her boyfriend, 29-year-old Anthony Javon Smith Jr, returned and claimed they had gone to the store to buy items for the baby. However, officers noted that they were empty-handed when they came home.

The child was taken into custody by DSS and during a medical examination, health officials found the baby had a spiral fracture of the upper left arm, multiple broken ribs, a fractured skull, and a previously broken wrist.

Police, who initially cited Smith Jr for possession of drug paraphernalia, obtained a warrant for his arrest. He is currently being held on a $30,000 secured bond.

Recently, a Kentucky man was accused of assaulting a 10-month-old baby and was charged with criminal abuse on a child 12-and-under. The incident took place on Feb. 28 but charges against the man, the now ex-boyfriend of the child's mother, came Friday,

Covington police identified the accused as Darion Dietrich, 23. The child's mother, Renee Trenkamp, said that she went out to eat and left her son with her then-boyfriend, who called her within minutes after she sat down.

“He called me and he was crying really really hard,” Trenkamp said. " I asked, ‘What was wrong?’ And he kept telling me the baby, he wasn’t acting right. I said, ‘So I need to call an ambulance?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know.’ I asked if the baby was breathing, and he said, ‘I don’t know.’"

According to the arrest warrant, the baby was inside a house in the 100 block of Tando Way Drive, unconscious and unresponsive. The child was immediately taken to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

The injuries were so bad, the infant had had a portion of his skull removed during surgery. The child was in critical condition and doctors were unsure if the baby would survive.