Mom arrested over infant's skull fractures

CHAFFEE, Mo. -- A Chaffee woman was arrested and charged with striking her 2-month-old daughter so severely it caused two skull fractures.

Susan Cabiness, 34, was charged Thursday with abuse of a child and endangering the welfare of a child, according to a Scott County Sheriff's Department news release.

The defendant is accused of violently shaking her daughter and striking her head on a doorway in February. Cabiness was apparently enraged because the child would not sleep, according to the release.

The defendant is also accused of striking her daughter with an open palm in January.

Following the February attack, the girl was taken to a Cape Girardeau hospital. When the skull fractures were discovered, she was transferred to a St. Louis hospital for treatment, the release stated.

The girl is recovering under the care of relatives.

The girl is expected to turn 3 months old on March 29, according to Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter.

During an interview with the Division of Family Services on Wednesday, Cabiness denied hurting her daughter.

Bond for Cabiness was set at $100,000. She is scheduled to appear in court March 28 before Associate Circuit Judge David Mann in Scott County.