Poplar Bluff woman pleads guilty to abusing infant son

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- A woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to abusing her infant son who suffered injuries doctors describe as being consistent with shaken baby syndrome.

Heather M. Lane, 23, of Poplar Bluff pleaded guilty to felony abuse of a child before Presiding Circuit Judge Mark Richardson, according to Butler County Prosecuting Attorney Kevin Barbour.

In exchange for Lane's plea, Barbour said, he agreed to cap the sentence at 10 years on the felony and "the state will stand silent" as to punishment.

"We won't stand silent as to the facts -- as to the ramifications, the prognosis and facts surrounding the case," Barbour said. "The punishment, I'll rely on my judge for that."

After accepting Lane's plea, Richardson ordered a sentencing assessment report be completed by Probation and Parole.

According to the medical records, Barbour said, "this was not an isolated instance" of abuse."

Cardinal Glennon medical personnel reported Lane's then 6-month-old son, Tyler Jacob James Birdsong, had "a skull fracture, brain damage in all four quadrants and retinal damage, all consistent and commonly seen from abuse of a shaken baby," Butler County Investigator James Akers said in his probable cause affidavit on file with the court. "Medical images show multiple stages of healing."