Welcoming a baby can be a thrilling experience for new parents, but it can also be a sleep-deprived and lonely one at times. Most parents lovingly and responsibly care for their little ones despite this hard truth. Recently, however, a Texas couple was charged after their 5-month-old daughter died from an alleged “horrific weekend” of abuse, including violent shaking.
Before leaving the hospital, parents are educated about the dangers of shaking an infant, even in a split-second moment of frustration. A baby’s fragile brain moves back and forth against the skull in such instances, causing bruising, swelling, bleeding, and even death. Tragically, roughly 1,300 babies in the US are shaken each year, according to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome.
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Five-month-old baby Ja’nae was rushed to a hospital on September 29, where she died days later.
The baby girl, identified only as Ja’nae of Houston, Texas, had a brain bleed and multiple rib fractures, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez detailed in a post on X. The baby’s “prognosis was grim,” and she appeared to have both “old and new fractures,” he wrote. Additionally, Ja’nae had “no brain function,” and she died on October 2.
Her parents were arrested and charged in the case.
The 5-month-old’s parents, Glenn Wayne Smith, 25, and Jasmine Ellison, 23, of Houston, have since been arrested. They were charged with injury to a child and serious bodily injury, ABC 13 reported. In a recent court appearance, prosecutors alleged that Smith abused the child and Ellison failed to take action.
The abuse reportedly took place over four days.
Prosecutors alleged that the abuse against Ja’nae happened over four days and that Smith and Ellison waited to call 911 to get help for their baby girl.
“After suffering a horrific weekend starting on 9/26/24, where she was said to be throwing up, partially paralyzed, vomiting blood etc.” Gonzalez wrote on social media. “It wasn’t until Sunday that she was taken to the ER.”
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Medical staff confirmed Ja’nae's injuries were likely caused by shaking.
Prosecutors also detailed the baby’s injuries. “The child was found with multiple serious injuries including swelling and bleeding of the brain, no brain activity at the time of admission, blood coming out of her mouth, broken ribs, healed broken ribs,” they shared, per ABC 13. Additionally, medical staff said they “were likely caused by aggressively shaking the child.”
The parents remain in custody at the county jail.
Smith and Ellison were still being held at Harris County Jail in Texas. Smith’s bond was initially set at $1 million but was reduced to $250,000, according to ABC 13. Meanwhile, Ellison’s bond was set at $150,000.
