A Cumberland County, Tenn., man accused of battering a 7-month-old Rhea County girl faces a hearing today in General Sessions Court in Dayton.
The infant girl is still being treated in the pediatric intensive care unit at T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital at Erlanger in Chattanooga, investigators said.
Jesse Lynn Wyatt, 24, of Cumberland County, Tenn.
"She has not made much improvement," Rhea County Sheriff's Office investigator Rocky Potter said Monday.
Meanwhile, Jesse Lynn Wyatt, 24, remains behind bars on a $150,000 bond pending his court appearance today. Wyatt does not yet have an attorney, court officials said, but one could be appointed during the hearing.
The investigation began after a 911 call came in on Feb. 23 that a child wasn't breathing at a home on Shady Lane, east of Dayton. EMTs called for air transport as soon as they saw the baby's condition. Potter said during the initial investigation that he and others in the ambulance first saw possible signs of abuse that could cause "shaken baby syndrome" as they were waiting for the helicopter.
The girl's injuries were mostly concentrated on her body from the shoulders up, investigators said. Violently shaking an infant can damage the child's skull, brain and spinal cord.
Wyatt was charged with aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect or endangerment, both felonies, under a child abuse statute called Haley's Law. Under the law, the charge of aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect or endangerment becomes a class A felony when it involves a victim 8 years old or younger or one who is "mentally defective, mentally incapacitated or suffers from a physical disability," the law states.
Class A felonies in Tennessee carry a penalty of 15 to 60 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.
Wyatt also was charged in Rhea County with possession of prescription drugs without a prescription and possession of drug paraphernalia, Potter said. He also is wanted on warrants from Cumberland County and elsewhere.
On Monday, Potter said investigators with the sheriff's office and the state Department of Children's Services were still conducting interviews.
Contact staff writer Ben Benton at bbenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6569.