HANCOCK COUNTY — Adult charges have been dropped against a young mother whose baby was put on life support at an Indianapolis hospital in November 2017.
Caitlin Mann, 20, Greenfield, was originally charged with three felony counts of neglect after paramedics with the Greenfield Fire Territory responded to a report of an infant who was having trouble breathing and who appeared to have coughed up blood, court documents state.
Mann was 17 when her son was taken to the hospital with injuries that included broken bones and bleeding on the brain. Her case — along with that of the baby’s father — was eventually waived into adult court.
But Prosecutor Brent Eaton said Mann’s case has been sent back to juvenile jurisdiction, and all the adult charges were dismissed last week. Juvenile records are confidential, so Eaton was prohibited from discussing the details of any case against her.
Mann was accused of not doing enough to seek help for the baby when it became clear he was injured, investigators said at the time. Eaton noted the prosecutors don’t think she caused the child’s injuries.
Charges are pending against others in the case, however.
Brandon Kimberlin, 19, Greenfield, the child’s father, is facing multiple neglect charges including three Level 3 felony charges of neglect of a dependent and aggravated battery as well as a Level 5 felony count of neglect. He is accused of inflicting the injuries to the child and is scheduled for a jury trial Feb. 18 in Hancock County Circuit Court.
Doctors said the baby’s injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome, according to court documents.
The baby was eventually released from the hospital and is living with a relative, officials said.
The baby’s paternal grandparents, who lived in the same Greenfield home, also faced similar allegations initially, records show.
Pearl Holland, 39; and Heath Kimberlin, 43, were charged with two Level 3 felony counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in injury and one Level 5 felony count of neglect of a dependent resulting in injury, officials said.
Heath Kimberlin’s charges have since been dismissed. However, Holland’s charges are still pending, and she has a trial set for Feb. 18 in Hancock County Circuit Court, according to court records.
The baby was born prematurely on Sept. 29, 2017, and spent much of the first month of his life in the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, court records show.
On Oct. 25, 2017, the baby was discharged and brought to a home on Brook Street in Greenfield, where his young parents and grandparents lived.
About two weeks later, on Nov. 10, the baby’s caregivers told first-responders the baby had awoken from a nap and appeared to be gasping for breath. They also found what appeared to be dried blood in and around the child’s mouth, and they decided to call for help, according to court documents.
Paramedics examined the baby and recommended he be taken to the hospital for further care, but the family refused to have the baby transported, court documents state.
Early the next morning — about six hours after paramedics left the Brook Street home — the family rushed the child to Hancock Regional Hospital. They told doctors there the baby hadn’t eaten but was having fits of vomiting, court documents state.
Doctors noted the baby’s skin had turned blue and gray in color and felt cold to the touch, court documents state. As doctors examined him, the baby went into cardiac arrest, and doctors began CPR, court documents state.
Doctors pinpointed Nov. 7 and Nov. 10 of 2017 as the days they believe the child was harmed, according to court documents.
Mann originally faced two Level 3 felony counts of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury and one Level 5 felony charge of neglect.
