Man arrested after baby rushed to hospital with brain bleed - East Idaho News
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Man arrested after baby rushed to hospital with brain bleed

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AMMON — A man was arrested after a three-month-old was hospitalized with brain swelling and seizures.

Stanley Gage Scruggs, 24, is facing one charge of felony injury to a child after his 3-month-old son was taken to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center and then rushed to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. The little boy’s head was swollen, and he had bleeding on his brain. Doctors believed his injuries to be consistent with shaken baby syndrome, according to court documents.

Lacey Brower, the baby’s mother, and Scruggs’ ex-fiancee, told EastIdahoNews.com her baby had been irritable and throwing up for a couple of weeks. He was taken to the doctor multiple times. On Friday, he suffered a seizure.

“We took him to the doctor, and the doctor sent us to EIRMC, where we found out about the bleeding on the brain. The doctors told us it was consistent with child abuse. That’s when my world fell apart because I had no idea how, what, when, where or why. It’s every mother’s worst nightmare,” Brower said.

Court documents show Scruggs told investigators he had shaken the baby’s arms, trying to calm him down three weeks earlier. However, doctors said the injuries he had suffered looked like they happened at least three or four days before he was brought to the hospital.

SCRUGGS
Stanley Scruggs | Bonneville County Jail

Scruggs denied ever shaking the baby’s head or body, according to court documents.

Brower told EastidahoNews.com her baby received an MRI at Primary Children’s Hospital. The MRI revealed he has a skull fracture on the left side of his head, excessive spinal fluid on the brain and brain damage on the same side as the skull fracture. He also has an ankle fracture.

“Our son is fighting for his life all because of the decision (Scruggs) made and then hid it from us,” Brower said.

Brower told investigators that a month before, she noticed a bruise on the baby’s forehead. When she questioned Scruggs about the bruise, he was allegedly not forthcoming about where the baby had gotten it. She said Scruggs initially blamed it on the dogs. Later he said he’d accidentally dropped his phone on the baby’s head while sending a text message.

According to documents, while the child was at EIRMC Friday, investigators decided to place him in emergency care of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare out of fear for his safety if the hospital released him to be sent home. The baby was placed temporarily into his grandmother’s custody. Brower agreed it was in her son’s best interest.

“He is only 3 months old, and he’s already been through so much. He is my hero,” Brower said.

Scruggs was taken into custody and booked into the Bonneville County Jail on Monday. Felony injury to a child carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Aug. 27.

A GoFundMe account has been created to help pay for medical expenses. Click here.

Baby Boy
Lacey Brower and her baby. | Courtesy Lacey Brower

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