Leaves infant brain damaged, blind, mute and deaf, if she survives, say doctors
GALATIA— In a follow up to a story first published in the December ’13/January ’14 edition, police say a Galatia man had confessed to shaking his four-month-old baby girl so severely that he detached both her retinas, left her brain damaged, blind, deaf and in need of a feeding tube; that is, say doctors, if she survives at all.
Official reports have been made available, and through these the public is now able to learn the startling details of the case that shocked the area in early December 2013.
Authorities have revealed in these reports that the story began to unfold on December 7, 2013, at approximately 4 p.m. when Colten W. Campbell, 21, of 611 East Church St., Apt., 2A, Galatia, reported that he had found his four month old daughter Aubrey Campbell facedown “gasping for breath” in her crib.
Ambulance personnel transported the infant to Harrisburg Medical Center where she was first airlifted to Deaconess Hospital in Evansville and from there to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis.
Illinois State Police investigators were called in two days later and interviewed Campbell at approximately 4:45 p.m. December 9, 2013.
“He repeated the account he had given the medical personnel,” said one of the investigators. “He said that Aubrey was fine when he placed her in her crib around 1:30 p.m. but was in distress when he found her two hours later.”
Adds that he “inadvertently slammed” infant’s head
Campbell did, however add one detail he hadn’t told emergency medical personnel.
“He added that he inadvertently slammed Aubrey’s head against the door frame prior to laying her down and that he assumed that was what caused her to quit breathing,” the investigator said.
While at Riley Children’s Hospital, numerous tests were performed on baby Aubrey.
Dr. Roberta Hibbard explained to authorities that both of the baby’s retinas had been detached and that there was a “tremendous” amount of blood in both her eyes.
“This is indicative of rapid acceleration and deceleration,” Dr. Hibbard said. “It is unlikely this was caused by a single blow to the head.”
Dr. Hibbard also noted an “obvious healing buckle fracture of Aubrey’s arm.”
A “buckle fracture” is the bone buckles upon itself without disrupting the other side of the bone.
The confession
During the writing of and subsequent publication of the story when it broke in the last issue of Disclosure, Campbell’s mother, Aubrey’s biological mother and friends (none of whom were present when baby Aubrey was injured) rallied to his defense, claiming he would “never” do such a thing “on purpose” and that the injuries to the baby happened while he was simply bouncing his daughter on his knee.
Colten Campbell was interviewed the day after Dr. Hibbard’s examination of baby Aubrey.
On Dec. 10, 2013 at 2:23 p.m. Campbell told investigators, in what is believed to be a taped confession, that on December 7 he had been playing Call of Duty Black Ops.
Investigators say Campbell described how he lost his temper and ended up “slamming Aubrey onto the bed repeatedly because she was crying while he was trying to play” his video game.
Campbell is said to have given authorities a taped statement and even performed a reenactment on videotape with a doll showing how he had injured the four-month-old.
Doctors estimated the extensive brain damage to baby Aubrey to be at least 75 percent.
History of stupidity
Campbell is a convicted felon from Hamilton County after be was found guilty of Receiving/Possession of a Stolen Vehicle for which he was sentenced to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections and ordered to pay $7,377.14 in fines and fees of which he still owes the county of Hamilton $6,895.
And at the time (according to his confession) he was beating his four-month-old baby girl blind, deaf and maybe to death he was serving a 24-month sentence of conditional discharge out of Hamilton County after a 2012 conviction on a single count of Endangering the Life/Health of a Child.
In that case Campbell ran a stop sign and was caught by law enforcement, with his now-spouse’s teenage cousins in the car.
Possible murder charges
Campbell, who waived extradition after being taken into custody in Indiana, is currently being held on one count of Aggravated Battery for causing permanent disability to a child under 13 years of age.
The amount of cash bond in the case has been set at $25,000.
Sources close to the investigation have told Disclosure that if baby Aubrey dies, state’s attorney Mike Henshaw will more than likely file murder charges.
As it stands, Campbell faces a possible sentence of 30 to 60 years on the aggravated battery charge.
“This tiny little girl, if she even lives, will never see a sunset, never be able to say ‘I love you’, will never be able to hold a toy on her own, will never hear music or even her own name being spoken, never be able to feed herself or even sit up on her own,” said a source close to the case. “What kind of monster can do something like this to an infant?”
Campbell is scheduled to be back in court January 23, at 1 p.m.