Seth JonesA Soddy-Daisy man was arrested last week and charged with criminal homicide after he allegedly slung a 6-month-old baby girl into a television stand and then shook her in September of last year.
Seth Jones, 29, initially told Soddy-Daisy police the baby fell off the couch when he was making her a bottle of formula on Sept. 21, according to Soddy-Daisy court records.
Police were called to the hospital where the baby had been taken due to her having "suspicious head injuries," court records state.
Hamilton County Medical Examiner James Metcalfe performed an autopsy a few days later and ultimately ruled the infant's death a homicide with the cause of death being blunt force trauma.
She sustained several severe injuries to her head and spine, according to the medical examiner's report obtained by the Times Free Press.
That report was completed on Dec. 23, and on Jan. 4, Jones was called in for another police interview.
He told police he became frustrated with the baby while he was feeding her, court records state.
He said he was holding her with one arm while standing and "spun around in frustration which slung [the infant] away from his body and out of his arms across the room into the television stand," investigators noted in the criminal affidavit.
Jones told investigators the baby lay on the floor unresponsive. So he picked her up "and shook her for two to three minutes before he eventually contacted [the baby's] mother," court records state.
Jones was then arrested and booked into the Silverdale Detention Center where he remains on a $620,000 bond. He is set to appear in court next month, though that date could be reset due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Tennessee Supreme Court's order to limit in-person court proceedings.
Contact Rosana Hughes at 423-757-6327, rhughes@timesfreepress.com or follow her on Twitter @HughesRosana.