A mother’s weekend trip to a Parker County emergency clinic with her 4-month-old daughter for treatment of what she thought was a rash ended with the child’s parents in jail, accused in what a Parker County investigator called one of the worst child-abuse cases the department has handled.

The "rash" was actually pinpoint hemorrhages that can occur during suffocation or choking, medical personnel said. The baby also had numerous fractures and bruises as well as possible brain damage, authorities said.

Leanne Kathleen Donovan, 19, was arrested Saturday on suspicion of injury to a child. Her boyfriend, the child’s father, Isaac Daniel Bigley, 27, was arrested on suspicion of tampering with evidence. Sheriff’s officials said he stole a witness statement when he was left alone in an interview room.

Both remained in the Parker County Jail on Tuesday. Donovan’s bail was set at $50,000. Bigley’s bail was set at $7,500; he is also being held without bail on a parole violation.

Fort Worth police are also investigating the case because the family lived in a Hulen Street apartment until last month.

The baby, named Layla, has been released from Cook Children’s Medical Center and placed in foster care, said Marissa Gonzales, a spokeswoman for Child Protective Services.

"We’ll be following up with medical personnel to see if she has any lasting effects from the injuries she suffered," Gonzales said.

The parents, who have no other children, have no previous history with the state agency, Gonzales said.

Abuse 'disturbing’

Parker County sheriff’s investigator Sammy Slatten said the severity of abuse was "extremely disturbing."

"We’re meeting with the radiologist at Cook to try to nail down a timeline," Slatten said. "We know the breaks were healing. We just don’t know if they were in the early stages of healing or late. The child could have been abused anytime in the last four months."

Neighbors in the Hulen Street apartment complex have told investigators that the couple argued a lot but that they never saw either be violent with the newborn, Slatten said.

The neighbors said, however, that often when the baby cried, the couple put her in a back bedroom and just shut the door.

During the first week of November, Slatten said, the couple had to move out. Donovan moved into her parents’ Keller home with Layla, while Bigley moved to Parker County and stayed in an RV on his parents’ property. The day before Thanksgiving, Donovan and the baby joined him there, Slatten said.

Except for Saturday’s trip to the clinic, Slatten said, investigators have found no evidence that medical treatment had been sought for Layla’s injuries.

The baby apparently had a round of vaccinations at 1 month, he said.

"After that, the child’s foot was black. Mom was telling her parents it was a reaction to the shots and that she had had it checked out," Slatten said.

Slatten believes that the infant’s hands and feet were bruised because she was struck.

"We don’t usually see bruises on the palms of their hands or bottom of their feet," Slatten said.

Father’s booking

Parker County Sheriff Larry Fowler said video recorded routinely in an interview room showed that Bigley stole a witness statement after he was briefly left alone.

"The investigator was out of the room for just a couple of minutes," Fowler said. "It gave him time to read it and put it in his pocket."

Fowler said police later recovered the statement in Donovan’s possession.

Bigley tried to attack jail workers as he was being booked, threatened officers and proclaimed his membership in the Aryan Brotherhood, according to a news release from Fowler’s office.

In addition to the tampering case, Bigley is being held on a parole violation involving a burglary conviction and unrelated warrants out of River Oaks.

Staff writer Domingo Ramirez Jr. contributed to this report.

DEANNA BOYD, 817-390-7655

http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/1804039.html

Emphasis added by H4K Editor