ALEDO, Texas — The Parker County Sheriff's Office has arrested a woman in connection with a child abuse case involving her 5-year-old son, who died Monday morning in the Cook Children's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Fort Worth.
Brooke Baker Chadwick, 42, called emergency services the night of May 7 and said her son was nonresponsive and "not breathing right," officials said. She told deputies on scene her son suffered from a cognitive disorder that made him fall frequently. She said her son tripped and fell and hit his head on the tile floor at their home Friday night. Deputies said they saw a large bump on the boy's head, the sheriff's office said.
Cook Children's staff said several of the 5-year-old boy's injuries were inconsistent with a fall and were instead indicative of child abuse.
The boy was placed on life support in the PICU and died Monday morning at 7:33 a.m. The Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office will release the official manner and cause of death pending an autopsy.
Chadwick was arrested in Tarrant County earlier this week and faces a charge of first-degree felony injury to a child with intent of serious bodily injury. When the investigation is complete, the case will go to the Parker County District Attorney's Office for prosecution.
The initial call for emergency assistance happened at 7 p.m. on May 7 in the 600 block of Soaring Star Lane in Aledo. The Parker County Sheriff's Office said first responders immediately administered first aid and took the child to Cook Children's.
After the Cook Children’s Medical Center Care Team reported they thought the child's injuries were from abuse, the Children's Advocacy Center of Parker County interviewed child witnesses and contacted Child Protective Services regarding other children in the home, the Sheriff's Office said.
