MADISON COUNTY, Ind. -- Doctors at Community Health ER described numerous injuries to the body of an 18-month-old Anderson boy, many of them already in different stages of healing, according to information in a probable cause affidavit.
Harlan Haines died in February at Riley Hospital for Children.
PHOTOS | Baby Harlan Haines
The Madison County Prosecutor filed formal charges against his mother, Jennifer Harris, 27, on Tuesday for neglect of a dependent causing death. Her then-boyfriend, Dylan Tate, 26, has also been arrested and preliminarily charged with neglect of a dependent.
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The probable cause affidavit filed against Harris details what she says happened the night Harlan went to the hospital and the injuries doctors say they found after he was admitted to the hospital.
Harris told an officer with the Anderson Police Department that she and Tate put Harlan to bed on February 22 and then she smoked a marijuana joint and took an Oxycodone pill. She told the officer that Tate drank a few shots of whiskey and then they went to bed, according to information in the probable cause document.
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Harris told Officer Cole she woke up in the middle of the night and found Tate and Harlan were gone and her living room was in disarray, with couch cushions removed and clean clothing scattered on the table. She said she didn't realize what was going on until she saw police outside and was told there was an accident just up the road.
In the probable cause document, Anderson police say that Tate told them he woke up to get "another shot of whiskey" and found Harlan not breathing. He said picked Harlan up, shook him and tried to perform CPR. Tate then says he took the toddler to the hospital instead of calling 911.
Tate told officers that he was going too fast when he rounded a curb and ran into a pole. That's when he grabbed Harlan from the back seat and flagged down someone driving by who called an ambulance.
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Doctors at Community Hospital in Anderson reported numerous injuries on Harlan, including bruising along his entire body, hemorrhaging of the brain, bite marks on his arm and leg, rectal bleeding and bruising on his scrotum and penis, according to information in the probable cause document. They noted the injuries were all in different stages of healing and many of them were new and some were older.
"When staff attempted to intubate him, a partial napkin or paper towel was found in his airway and had to be removed. He also had a body temperature of 92 degrees Fahrenheit," stated Anderson police in the document.
Both Harris and Tate told police that none of those injuries existed before they put Harlan to bed except a small bruise on his forehead and one on his leg.
The Madison County Prosecutor says more charges are possible as the investigation into Harlan's death continues moving forward.
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