A Mentone man was arrested Thursday for a February 2023 incident in which an infant had to be flown to a Fort Wayne hospital for medical care.
Kaiden Eugene Meade, 20, of 506 N. Broadway St., Mentone, was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 3 p.m. Thursday on a preliminary charge of battery on a person less than 14 years old. His bond was set at $21,000.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, at 11:03 p.m. Feb. 26, 2023, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy was dispatched to a residence in reference to a baby with trauma. Upon arrival, the deputy was met in the living room by Kaiden Meade and his mother. When asked what happened, Meade told the deputy and an EMT that he put his child to bed at 9:30 p.m., and then at 10:30 p.m. the child woke up being fussy. When Meade went to pick the child up, he started to drop the child over the crib. Meade told the deputy that he grabbed the child to prevent the child from falling, and when he caught the child, the child’s neck snapped backwards.
Court documents say that Meade told the deputy that he noticed the child was moving their arms differently and the child’s eyes looked different. Meade further stated that he woke up his mother and called the baby’s mother, who was at work.
The deputy asked Meade about cuts on his knuckles that were scabbed over. Kaiden replied that a couple weeks prior he was arguing with the baby’s mother, went outside and punched the shed.
During the police investigation, the child’s mother arrived from work and spoke to the deputy regarding Meade. The deputy asked her if Meade was ever aggressive and the mother stated, “no, never towards the baby.” She did state that sometimes Meade is aggressive when he is mad, and that he was currently going to mental health counseling. The deputy noticed there appeared to be a hole in the bedroom door, and the child’s mother stated Meade punched the wall. She also told the deputy that Meade had an outburst in the prior week.
At the hospital, Meade made comments in the presence of another KCSO deputy that were captured on body camera. Meade told officers that he picked up the child from the crib and, while they were walking into the other room, he tripped over a baby’s gate in the doorway. Meade said that when he tripped, he lost hold of the child and started to drop the baby. He said he grabbed the child to keep her from falling and that is when the child’s head snapped back. He said he did not let the child hit the ground.
While speaking with officers, Meade was approached by the medical staff who advised that the child would need to be airlifted to a hospital in Fort Wayne to expedite treatment. Meade and the child’s mother would have to travel by ground due to lack of space.
A KCSO detective interviewed the EMT who stated Meade told her and the first deputy that he picked up the child and lost his grip, and the child almost fell down into the crib. The EMT said Meade stated that when he grabbed the child to keep the baby from falling, the child’s head snapped back. There was no mention of Meade tripping over a baby gate. Additionally, the EMT advised that while the paramedic was preparing Meade and the child’s mother to be taken by ambulance, they had to tell the pair to stop arguing or they would be removed from the ambulance. Meade rode in the ambulance and the mother followed in separate vehicle, according to court documents.
The child was admitted to Lutheran Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Fort Wayne for a brain bleed. The assessment of the child’s medical team was that the child suffered preretinal, intraretinal and subretinal hemorrhages and a subdural hematoma. The diagnosis was that the injuries were non-accidental and inconsistent with the reported history given by Meade. The records were sent to Riley Hospital’s Child Protection Team, and their evaluation concluded that the traumatic history offered to explain the child’s injuries does not adequately explain the constellation of the child’s injuries. The findings of the child’s injuries are most indicative of non-accidental or inflicted injury, the probable cause affidavit states.
During the investigation, the KCSO detective also learned of a prior incident where the child had a prior unexplained facial injury while in Meade’s care that Meade said occurred while co-sleeping with the child. At the time this facial injury was suffered, Meade and the child’s mother were living with her parents. They then left that residence and moved in with Meade’s mother and sister.