by Kevin Lilly
The father of a 3-week-old infant remains in jail as the child he is accused of violently shaking battles brain injuries from which he will likely never recover.
On Wednesday, Logansport Police Detective Brad Miller concluded a week-long investigation into the suspected abuse by arresting 21-year-old Jose Marciano Rocha-Acosta on a charge of class B felony child neglect.
The alleged abuse to Xevier A. Rocha occurred the night of July 23 inside the residence at 525 1/2 Helm St. According to a police report, Rocha-Acosta admitted to mishandling his son following an argument with his live-in girlfriend and mother of the child, 20-year-old Aurora Pascual.
After Pascual left the house to cool off, Rocha-Acosta told police that Xevier began to cry because he was hungry. In an attempt to calm the child, Rocha-Acosta said he bounced the child up and down in his arms several times without supporting the baby’s head.
At some point, Xevier fell limp in his father’s arms. Rocha-Acosta, who said he began crying when Xevier stopped breathing, took his son to the ER at Logansport Memorial Hospital.
The same night, Xevier was airlifted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he remains in critical condition.
Miller said medical staff informed him the baby suffered irreversible brain damage. If the child does survive past the infant stage, he would not reach any milestones, Miller reported.
Miller said a doctor determined that the only way the baby sustained such severe brain damage was from shaken baby syndrome.
If the infant would die as a result of his injuries, the charge Rocha-Acosta faces would be elevated to a class A felony, which carries a sentencing range of 20 to 50 years in the Indiana Department of Correction.
Rocha-Acosta is scheduled to appear in court next week.
• Kevin Lilly is news editor of the Pharos-Tribune. He can be reached at (574) 732-5117 or kevin.lilly@pharostribune.com
