4-week-old suffers skull fractures, retinal hemorrhage in Miamisburg; parents charged

Miamisburg parents are facing child endangering and other charges after their 4-week-old daughter in January suffered skull fractures and bleeding on the brain.

Felony charges of child endangerment, tampering with evidence and obstructing justice were filed Wednesday against Emma Coyle and Bradley Mayberry in Miamisburg Municipal Court.

The Miamisburg Police Department and Montgomery County Children Services were contacted Jan. 7 by Dayton Children’s Hospital for a 4-week-old girl who “was injured and child abuse was suspected,” according to an affidavit.

Coyle initially told hospital staff and police she dropped her daughter after the girl kicked her leg and pushed herself out of her grasp, and that the baby landed on her back and head at their home in the 1100 block of East Central Avenue in Miamisburg. The child threw up, and she drove her to Dayton Children’s Hospital South Campus in Miamisburg, according to an affidavit.

It was determined the child suffered multiple skull fractures, had swelling and retinal hemorrhaging in all four quadrants. During a transfer to the hospital’s main campus in Dayton, the infant had to be intubated because she stopped breathing, the document stated.

Hospital staff told police “this type of retinal hemorrhaging is typical in significant accidental trauma, such as a motor vehicle crash that involves a rollover or crush injury or inflicted trauma.”

Coyle initially told police that Mayberry did not live with them anymore and was not present when she dropped the child.

However, she later said Mayberry had been with her after police obtained text and social media messages between her and Mayberry, which also show discussion about Coyle giving police a key and permission to search the residence and Mayberry say he was “cleaning up.”

Coyle told police the pair had argued and that he had been drinking but calmed down when he asked for the baby. She handed him the baby and stood up, saying she hoped he would follow her to put the baby to bed. Instead, she said she later heard a loud “thump” and saw Mayberry appear “shocked” as he stood over the baby on the floor, the affidavit stated.

Mayberry during a police interview, admitted that he dropped the baby and that he and Coyle had lied about his whereabouts. However, police said Mayberry “could not consistently show us how he had dropped the infant.”

A warrant was issued Wednesday for Mayberry, 32, who is not in custody.

He has a May 18 bench trial in Miamisburg Municipal Court for misdemeanor charges of domestic violence and child endangering. Coyle told police that Mayberry struck her on Christmas Day when she would not give him the baby after he allegedly had been drinking, according to a court record.

Coyle, 30, pleaded not guilty during her Thursday arraignment and is scheduled to appear in court April 29. She has been held on a $75,000 bond in the Montgomery County Jail since her Wednesday arrest by Miamisburg police.

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