Polk County caregiver arrested for violently shaking baby: PCSO

EAGLE LAKE, Fla. - The day before Thanksgiving, the Polk County Sheriff's Office received an urgent 911 call about an unresponsive child at an Eagle Lake home.

First responders arrived to find a three-month-old breathing, but pale and unresponsive. He was taken immediately to a trauma care center before being transferred to St. Joseph's Pediatric Hospital in Tampa.

Deputies began to ask the residents of the home what happened.

What we know:

Zachary Ingram spoke to deputies investigating the incident. He described how the child was sleeping in a baby swing. He left the child unattended for 10 to 15 minutes and when he returned, the child was slumped over in the swing pale and not responding to anything. He called the child's mother. She told him to call 911. He did, and started CPR until medical personnel arrived.

Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

The child was initially taken to Winter Haven Hospital. There, according to the Sheriff's Office report, the child was discovered to be suffering a brain bleed and had significant bruising in his lower abdominal area. 

They arranged for him to be transferred to the Pediatric Hospital at St. Joesph's in Tampa.

There, doctors completed a CT scan and confirmed the brain bleed, hemorrhaging in addition to the lower body trauma injuries. The child was stabilized but remains in critical condition.

Polk County Sheriff's Investigators interviewed Ingram and the child's mother again.

Deputies say that Ingram told them that a 2-year-old child at the residence struck the infant on the head with a rattle and that later the child's mother tripped while holding the baby, causing the injuries to the child.

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The mother was determined to not have been home at the time of the injuries. Investigators found video surveillance of her movements outside the home at local stores during the time that the injuries would have occurred.

Dig deeper:

When confronted with the details of the mother's absence from the home. Ingram confirmed to the investigators that he was the only adult in the home at the time.

The investigators asked what really happened, and according to the report, Ingram admitted to shaking the baby both horizontally and vertically. He guessed that he did it harder than he thought.

The investigators spoke with the doctor at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at St. Joseph's Hospital. The injuries the child suffered were consistent with being a shaken baby. The victim suffered a brain bleed, hemorrhaging, retinal hemorrhaging, linear bruising along the buttocks, vertical bruising in the area as well, linear bruising on the lower abdomen, bleeding in the spinal cord, and spinal court edema ligament injury.

The doctor advised the child suffered seizures related to the injuries and is being constantly monitored as a result.

A Child Protection Team advocate from Hillsborough County reviewed the doctor's findings and confirmed that the injuries were a clear indication of child abuse and that the child might suffer permanent injury from the damage to his brain.

As a result of Ingram's statements and the reports from the hospital and medical professionals working with the victim, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office arrested Zachary Ingram and charged him with aggravated child abuse.

Courtesy: Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

What's next:

Ingram's arrest was Monday for the first-degree felony of aggravated child abuse. He will have a first appearance hearing Tuesday afternoon.