Daytona Beach, FL - A Daytona Beach mother has been arrested after failing to provide care for her 22-month-old child who sustained multiple skull fractures after a TV fell on her.
On January 5, police arrived at Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach in response to a potential child abuse case. A doctor informed police officers that the victim’s biological father and stepmother took her to the emergency room after they picked her up from her biological mother’s home and noticed swelling on her face.
The 1 year and 10-month-old girl had swelling around her eyes with drainage, a missing front tooth, and abrasions on her face and lips. The victim needed an IV because her lips and tongue were dry and a CT scan revealed several facial fractures around her eyes and skull fracture in the back of her head.
Police then questioned the girl’s biological mother, 27-year-old Michelle Pierce. Pierce advised police that she had taken her daughter to the emergency room after a scooter fell on her on January 3, but there was no record of the visit. She then admitted that she did not take her daughter to the hospital but gave her an unknown liquid from a prescription bottle with the label torn off that a friend said was antibiotics.
The girl’s father was sent texts from Pierce saying that the girl fell off a scooter and that she was fine after being given medication. Pierce told the girl’s father that she had taken her daughter to the emergency room the day it occurred.
Upon being brought in for questioning, Pierce admitted that she did not bring her daughter to the hospital because she already had an open case with DCF and she thought that she would get in trouble. Pierce said a TV had fallen on her daughter and that she knew her daughter had been seriously injured. Police stated in the incident report that Pierce changed her story several times and never provided a “valid reason” for not getting her daughter medical attention.
Pierce was arrested and charged with felony child neglect causing great bodily harm on January 6.
(Pierce's mugshot courtesy of Volusia County Corrections)
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