In Florida, a 27-year-old mother is facing charges for the alleged severe abuse of her 22-month-old daughter, resulting in the child being in a "vegetative state" since June. The woman, Susan Lane Hale, was arrested and charged with felony aggravated child abuse this week.
According to reports, an investigator from the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Victim’s Unit responded to a potential child abuse call at the Studer Family Children’s Hospital on June 16. Upon arrival, they found a toddler with numerous internal and external injuries, including hair loss, scalp sores, facial bruising, mouth injuries, and suspected burns. Medical assessments revealed severe internal injuries, including skull fractures, retinal hemorrhages, spinal fractures, rib fractures, and a liver laceration, all believed to be the result of non-accidental trauma.
Hale, along with her mother and her 9-month-old daughter, was present at the hospital. She claimed that she had picked up her daughter from her mother's house on June 15 and had gone straight home to sleep. The next morning, while driving to work, her daughter suddenly became unresponsive, and Hale rushed to a nearby hospital. She denied any knowledge of how the injuries occurred.
Investigators, however, found discrepancies in Hale's account and obtained cell phone data indicating she had spent most of the day and night of June 15 at her boyfriend's house, Dyllan Thompson. Both Hale and her daughter had been at Thompson's house for at least an hour before the child was taken to the hospital.
Doctors have since reported that the victim has been in a "persistent vegetative state" for the past four months with a grim prognosis for recovery. Hale is currently held in Escambia County Jail with a bond set at $750,000.
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