Man charged with causing brain injuries to infant

NEW MADRID, Mo. - A Morehouse man was to appear in court today for seriously injuring an infant, the Sikeston Standard Democrat reported.

Jesse L. Laminack, 21, was charged Monday with first-degree assault and is being held in the New Madrid County jail without bond. He was to be arraigned Thursday in Division II of New Madrid County Circuit Court before Judge Charles Spitler.

According to the probable cause statement Laminack was caring for a four-and-a-half-month-old child, who was taken by ambulance to Missouri Delta Medical Center on Sunday. The child was later transferred to a hospital in St. Louis.

On Monday hospital investigators confirmed the child has "a skull fracture and a significant brain injury consistent with a traumatic injury." As of press time the child was reported in critical condition.

During an interview Sunday afternoon, according to the probable cause statement, Laminack initially denied knowing what was wrong with the child. Later he stated he accidentally dropped the child and the infant's head struck the coffee table. He told officers the child cried briefly but eventually fell asleep.

Laminack told officers later in the day, when he fed the infant, the child vomited. The man stated as he took the child to the bathroom to clean the child up, he noticed the child wasn't breathing and he shook him to "like wake up. I don't know if I did it hard enough he has shaken baby syndrome or not," Laminack stated to officers.