Empire baby hospitalized with more than a dozen bone fractures. Parents arrested
An Empire couple was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of causing severe injuries to their five-month old daughter and waiting days to seek medical treatment for her.
The baby has well over a dozen bone fractures throughout much of her body, allegedly caused by twisting, pulling, and squeezing her limbs and the torso, said Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Sgt. Luke Schwartz.
The fractures were in various stages of healing. The most recent injuries are suspected to have occurred at the child’s home in the 100 block of South Abbie Street several days before her parents took her to Doctors Medical Center Tuesday morning.
Schwartz said she was transferred to Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera.
“She has a long road for recovery,” he said, calling the alleged abuse ‘horrific.’
Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Detectives went to Madera and interviewed the parents. Schwartz generalized the excuses they made for their baby’s injuries as “family traumas and stressors within the home.”
Tasawri Jaali Ellis, 22, and Isabella Ramirez, 21, were arrested on suspicion of child abuse and failing to provide medical care. Ellis, suspected of inflicting the injuries, was also booked on a charge of aggravated mayhem.
Ramirez has since bailed out but, due to the mayhem charge, Ellis has a higher bail of $550,000 and remains incarcerated. Neither had been formally charged as of Wednesday afternoon.
The baby is now in the custody of Child Protective Services. Schwartz did not know if the couple has any other children or if CPS had previous contact with the parents or child.
This story was originally published March 10, 2021 at 3:22 PM.
