Pierce County man sentenced for causing serious injuries to infant son
A man whose infant son was brought to a hospital with life-threatening injuries last year in Pierce County has been sentenced.
Myrone Barzaga Salud, 29, pleaded guilty Friday to first-degree child assault.
Pierce County Superior Court Judge Stephanie Arend gave him a high-end sentence of 10 years, three months in prison.
Salud’s plea paperwork said that he “recklessly inflicted great bodily harm” when he squeezed the child, “causing rib fractures.”
Charging papers give this account of the Lakewood police investigation:
The baby had broken ribs and a broken jaw that were healing, injuries to his brain and a lung problem when he was taken to the hospital April 1. He also had bruises, bite marks and scratches on his body.
The baby’s mother left him with Salud for about half an hour while she took their older child to get food.
She realized something was wrong when she picked the baby up later, and they took him to the hospital.
Salud told police he’d shaken the baby the night they took him to the hospital to get him to stop crying, and that he might have hit the baby’s head on his crib.
He also said that he’d previously pinched, squeezed, bitten and shaken the crying baby in frustration.
A bruise on the child’s genitals was from when Salud pinched him when the baby cried during a diaper change, Salud said.
He also said he’d used his fist to put pressure on the baby’s chest.
This story was originally published January 13, 2020 at 12:38 PM.
