Spanaway man charged with shaking, seriously injuring newborn daughter

A Spanaway man is accused of shaking his newborn daughter, causing potentially lifelong injury to the infant’s brain, according to court records.

Calvin Jerome Taylor, 32, was charged Wednesday with first-degree child assault. His arraignment is set for June 1. Court records did not list an attorney for him.

According to charging papers:

Taylor’s wife told an investigator she left for work on the afternoon of Oct. 10, and left Taylor to watch the 2-week-old infant and their 2-year-old daughter.

The baby was asleep when her mother got home, but quickly woke up and cried, shaking and unable to open her eyes.

Mom got worried and called 911. Paramedics told her the infant was OK but she disagreed, so she and Taylor took the child to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital and Health Center about 1 a.m.

When doctors found bleeding in the baby’s brain, Taylor said he had dropped the infant earlier after he tripped over a toy while holding the baby.

He told investigators he hadn’t said anything until he learned the injury was serious because he didn’t want to upset his wife.

The hospital determined the injury looked like the sort caused by violent shaking. Taylor denied that’s what happened.

Now 6 months old, the child functions as though she’s 2 or 3 months old. Doctors said she’ll likely have neurological and cognitive effects from the injury for the rest of her life.

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Spanaway man charged with shaking, seriously injuring newborn daughter."