Women arrested after 2-month-old suffers severe head injury, placed in medical coma, investigators say

SMITH COUNTY, Texas (KLTV/Gray News) - Investigators with the Smith County Sheriff’s Office say they have arrested three women after a 2-month-old child suffered severe head trauma.

Investigators noted that when they began looking into the case, the baby and other children were also found to be living in a home that was without air conditioning, infested with flies and littered with rat feces.

Additionally, the kids were routinely locked in a room when their mother left the home, authorities said the investigation uncovered.

Sidney Whitt, 21, Jacqulyn Morales, 29, and Shelby Munoz, 18, are each facing charges that include endangering a child and injury to a child. Each was booked on a $500,000 bond.

According to the sheriff’s office, an investigation was opened after child protective services and hospital staff contacted authorities on June 18 about an infant being brought to a Tyler hospital with head trauma consistent with child abuse.

Medical personnel reported the 2-month-old was suffering from brain bleeding, seizures and facial bruising. The child was later airlifted to the Children’s Medical Center in Dallas for specialized treatment.

Investigators interviewed the child’s mother, other adults, and the children living in the home. During this process, a search warrant was prepared.

While searching the home, that’s when investigators said they discovered the home’s inadequate living conditions.

According to investigators, on the night of June 16, two mothers of the children, identified as Whitt and Morales, left the home and placed Morales’s sister, Munoz, in charge of the children. Before leaving, they locked the 2-month-old and two other children in a bedroom.

Morales and Whitt traveled to a hotel to meet a boyfriend, which included them drinking alcohol and drugs, authorities said.

Back at the house, two children, ages four and six, ended up getting into the locked bedroom and began tossing the infant, and stomped on the child’s head, according to the sheriff’s office.

Munoz reportedly did not intervene, later saying that the children were not hers and she did not believe their care was her responsibility.

Authorities noted that Whitt and Morales did not seek medical assistance until two days later, despite seeing the child’s injuries.

Munoz and Morales were arrested on Tuesday, with Whitt taken into custody on Thursday.

The 2-month-old was placed on a ventilator and in a medically induced coma, the sheriff’s office said, as the investigation remains ongoing.