SAN ANTONIO — A San Antonio man was arrested Tuesday after police say he admitted to placing a 5-month-old boy in his care down too hard to stop him from crying, causing severe head injuries.
That baby is now recovering from the incident.
Arrest records state the baby, Dante Fontenot, started crying around 12:30 a.m. on New Year's Eve morning, while the mother was at work. Darrion Fontenot, 22, was caring for the baby but "often struggled to soothe" him, an affidavit says, and he called Dante's mother to help.
"Around 30 minutes later, the defendant video-called the mother again to report the victim was not responsive," the affidavit states.
Darrion, along with the child's mother, then took the baby to the hospital. Staff called police shortly after 4 a.m. to notify them of severe head injuries – including bleeding in the brain and eyes – that Fontenot was "unable to explain." When questioned by police, he said he placed the victim on the bed in an attempt to calm him down.
Instead, the baby became unresponsive.
Arrest records say Darrion Fontenot questioned to himself if he "threw him on the bed too hard" before walking back the comment. Doctors determined the baby's injuries may have been a result of being shaken or "rapid hyper-extension of the neck."
This child abuse case highlights the need for crisis care, advocates say. Marta Pelaez, who is the CEO of Family Violence Prevention Services, is pushing the city to open a crisis nursery.
“This is about resolving a problem for the community for those parents who find themselves in situations where they have no one to leave the baby with," said Pelaez. "Perhaps the one person who may be the candidate to take care of the baby is not the most fit person to do that, like in this case."
Pelaez said the pilot program will be modeled after a center in Cleveland. She said parents in crisis will be able to drop their young children off at the nursery for up to three days at no cost.
“It will be for children from birth to four years old," said Pelaez. "Because child abuse impacts, more than anybody else, the little ones. Those are the ones who suffer the most traumatic events and are most often killed by their caretakers. The goal is to keep that child safe. There will be a safe place where the parent can take that child while they take care of a crisis in the home."
Parents will also be connected to resources like counseling, parenting classes, financial aid and legal services.
“It is more than overdue to bring this resource to San Antonio," said Pelaez. "The community needs it badly. For many years, San Antonio has occupied a place of what I call 'dishonorable distinction' in two areas: child abuse and domestic violence. This is more than an idea, it's a project that is walking towards implementation in the very near future."
An arrest warrant was issued for Fontenot on Jan. 24 for charges of causing bodily injury to a child. He remains jailed on a $100,000 bond.
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