DENVER -- A home daycare provider is facing child abuse charges after a 5-month-old-baby girl was rushed to Denver Health Medical Center in late June with what doctors saw as signs of shaken baby syndrome.
The child was in the care of Brooke Stiner, 29, a home daycare provider who was arrested and later charged with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, a felony.
"Under Miranda (she) said she was the only one to have the child at the time injuries happened," the arresting officer wrote in the statement of probable cause.
According to the affidavit for a search warrant, the child was unresponsive and having seizures when she was transported to Denver Health on June 25.
The doctors found the child had several "subdurals," which creates "bleeding on the brain," the affidavit stated. One subdural appeared new and another old. A doctor also stated the child appeared to have a skull fracture.
Denver police detectives interviewed the parents of the child the following day. 7NEWS is withholding the names of the parents to protect the identity of the alleged victim in the case.
According to the affidavit, the baby's mother told a detective the child previously came home with a large bruise on her leg and a red mark across her neck a couple weeks later.
In the latter incident, Stiner told the baby’s mother the child was seated in an "exercise saucer." Since the child could not hold her neck up, a pillow was used to "prop her up," the affidavit said. The mother said she was told the baby's neck "slipped and hit the side of the saucer."
A doctor later said bleeding in the brain and retinal hemorrhaging were consistent with shaken baby syndrome.
Efforts to contact Stiner in person and by phone were not successful Wednesday.
A man and woman seen picking up a child from Stiner's home Wednesday refused to comment. It was unclear if the child was in day care, or related to Stiner in some way.
A spokeswoman from the Colorado Department of Human Services, the agency responsible for licensing child care providers, said Stiner had only been licensed since April.
Liz McDonough also said three complaints had been investigated prior to April. All three visits were for providing child care without a license.
Stiner's child care license was suspended upon her arrest June 26.
The baby's father spoke briefly to 7NEWS by phone. He declined to comment or provide any details, citing the ongoing court case.
"She's progressing," the father said when asked about the condition of the child. He then referred all questions to the Denver District Attorney's office.
A preliminary hearing in the case was set July 14. Stiner is due back in court Aug. 14.