Uncle accused of shaking, dropping his baby niece

HOUSTON

Ladarieus Von Pennamon is charged with injury to a child. According to court documents, Pennamon's four-month-old niece was taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital with a brain injury, healing rib fractures and retinal hemorrhages. Pennamon's sister, the mother of the baby girl, said she left Pennamon to watch the baby at their home on May 3, 2010 while she was at work. When the sister returned home, she found the baby girl "non-responsive."

Pennamon, 25, said he and the baby fell asleep on the couch and when he woke up, she was "in her vomit." He said the baby "had throw up on her mouth and wasn't breathing." Then he said he dropped the baby while trying to help her vomit and that she jerked out of his hand and hit her head on a box of baby wipes, court documents state.

The court documents also show that Pennamon had babysat his niece prior to moving in to the residence with his sister about two weeks before the incident.

A doctor advised that the baby's injuries were not consistent with a short fall, rather she would have to have been shaken. The healing rib fractures revealed that the baby had been shaken on more than one occasion, the doctor also stated.