Independence man charged with abuse after child diagnosed with brain bleed
A 29-year-old Independence man is facing child abuse charges after a child in his care was discovered to be suffering from brain bleeding.
Brandon Good is facing two counts of abuse or neglect of a child, according to Jackson County court documents.
On Oct. 13, an officer with the Independence Police Department responded to Children’s Mercy Hospital on reports of suspected child abuse, according to a probable cause statement in support of Good’s arrest.
A social worker informed the officer that medical professionals diagnosed the victim, a child under the age of 18, with multiple subdural brain hemorrhages, according to the probable cause statement.
Additionally, the social worker said the child did not present with signs of external trauma, and the nature of the child’s injuries “raised immediate concern for non-accidental trauma, including abusive head trauma or shaking,” the statement said.
The child had previously been seen at Children’s Mercy Hospital on Oct. 10, the officer said in the probable cause statement. The child was transported to the hospital by ambulance after becoming limp and unresponsive.
In an interview with the social worker at the hospital, Good said he was downstairs in a residence while the child was crying in their crib, according to the statement. Good said the child started crying “louder than usual,” and when he checked on the child, they were “gasping for air.”
When the social worker further questioned Good, he became defensive, and repeatedly told the social worker he “didn’t remember,” in response to questions, the statement said.
Good began to blame other people for the child’s injuries.
A person who lives in the same residence as Good told officers in an interview that around one or two weeks prior, a second person who lives in the residence returned to work, according to the probable cause statement.
She told officers that she works remotely from her room, and Good is the child’s primary caregiver, as he is unemployed, the statement said.
The woman said that on both Oct. 10 and Oct. 13, Good was alone with the child when the medical emergencies occurred, according to the probable cause statement. She told officers Good “spends most of his days in the living room, watching television and playing video games” while he watches the child.
On Oct. 16, a woman reached out to Children’s Mercy Hospital, citing concern for the child and a second woman who lives in the home, the statement said. She told officers she had previously witnessed Good assault the woman, and she suspected he had hurt the child.
A second woman who lives in the home disclosed “a long history of domestic violence suffered by Brandon Good, stating he was abusive when he drank,” according to the probable cause statement.
The woman also told officers she had received a text from the other woman in the home on Sept. 26, telling her she needed to get home. When the woman returned to the residence, the child was “crying uncontrollably” on a bed by herself, and had bruises on her forehead, right arm and abdomen.
In an official report from Children’s Mercy Hospital, the child was diagnosed with child physical abuse, abusive head trauma, bilateral subdural hemorrhages, lumbosacral spinal subdural hemorrhage, left cerebrum focal area of cytotoxic edema and healing fractures in five of the child’s ribs, according to the probable cause statement.
Good is being held in the Jackson County Detention Center on a $75,000 10% bond, according to the jail’s inmate listing. He is set to appear for a bond review hearing on Oct. 30.
