My story begins very simply. My grandson, Joey, became a victim of Shaken Baby Syndrome on July 12, 1996. Until that day, I knew very little about the signs and symptoms of SBS. I did know one thing though: I KNEW that shaking a baby was not something anyone should do.

But in order to tell this story properly, I need to go back to the day Joey was born. Joey is my daughter's third child. He has an older brother, now 6, and an older sister, now 2-1/2. When he was born, these two were 4-1/2 and 14 months.

On the day Joey was born, my daughter had been to her obstetrician for a regular appointment. She had planned to discuss being admitted to Providence General Medical Center - Colby Campus in Everett for induction. During her appointment, an ultrasound was done and it was discovered that the discomfort she was feeling was because the baby had turned into the breech position. She was told to go home and rest and come to the hospital the following day for a possible Caesarian section if the baby could not be turned around and induced.

About 45 minutes after she returned home, I received a phone call asking me to come over and care for the two older kids so she could rest. Of course, I did this very willingly. When I arrived at about 4:00 PM, she was quite obviously in labor--and in pain. I suggested she phone her doctor.

After dropping the two older kids at her friend's house, we went to the hospital and were met there by the baby's father, Mike who worked at the hospital's Pacific Campus. It had been decided that an emergency C-section was in order and that was performed at approximately 8:00 PM on May 8, 1996. Joey was born--a chubby, healthy baby boy.

After 4 days in the hospital, mom and baby arrived home. I spent as much time as I could with my daughter helping her to care for the three kids and Mike's other son. Joey seemed to be a very happy baby--not excessively fussy or difficult.

Because Mike was paying child support to two women, my daughter needed to return to work only three weeks after Joey's birth. To make things easier for the family financially, she would work a dayshift job while Mike would work the swingshift at Providence Pacific. Overlapping care for the kids would be handled by myself and one of my daughter's friends. After trying to work at her old job at a retail store, my daughter decided to leave that job and obtained employment as a leasing agent for an apartment complex where she would have regular day hours and no lifting.

A few days after she returned to work, I was at her house helping out when I noticed bruises under Joey's chin and along his ribcage. I asked her about these and was told that "Mike said he used to bruise easily as a baby" and that "it is from burping him." I told my daughter to ask her pediatrician about these bruises and she assured me she would.

At the beginning of June after Mike's divorce became final, plans were made for a wedding to take place on June 29. During mid- to late-June, I noticed Joey becoming more fussy, spitting up and even vomiting formula, and seeming to need to be held almost constantly. Although unusual in comparison to his mood during the first three weeks of his life, there was nothing in his behaviour to cause any alarm bells to ring for me.

In retrospect, had I been aware of signs and symptoms of Shaken Baby Syndrome, I might have become suspicious at that point. It was later determined that Joey did suffer a shaking episode sometime around mid-June, of a lesser magnitude than the one which landed him in the hospital on July 12, 1996.

On Sunday July 7th, I was watching the kids while Mike and my daughter were both working. Joey was experiencing extreme vomiting of his formula, so I phoned my daughter at her office suggesting that she take him to the walk-in clinic and find out what was wrong. She left work and took Joey to the clinic while I remained there to watch the other two kids. When she returned home, she reported that the diagnosis was either 'a tummy bug' or 'a problem with the formula'. Pedialyte was recommended.

I went out to the grocery and brought her some Pedialyte, but the following day when we talked on the phone, she stated that Joey was not doing any better on that. Since he had a scheduled appointment on July 10th with his pediatrician, she said she would ask about all this at that time.

On July 10th, Joey had his regular appointment for a well-baby check and shots. Although he was still experiencing vomiting and extreme fussiness, the pediatrician did not seem overly alarmed and he was given his shots and pronounced 'healthy and normal' for a baby his age. However, at eight weeks of age, Joey was still NOT attempting to hold his head upright nor was he lifting his head when he was laid on his tummy.

On Friday July 12th, my daughter left home to go to her office at about 8:45 AM. She left Mike with the three children as she had done every workday morning for more than a month. Ten minutes after she arrived, she got a frantic phone call from Mike saying that "Joey vomited and stopped breathing" and that he had phoned 911 and was trying to revive the baby.

I got a call from my daughter at Everett Community College, where I was assisting in an English 101 class, telling me to come to the Pacific Campus of the hospital because Joey had been brought there by the paramedics. When I arrived, I was told that the baby was comatose and the doctors did not know what was going to happen. Mike was telling a story about the baby vomiting, stopping breathing and having seizures. Not knowing anything about Shaken Baby Syndrome, and having no reason to suspect he was not telling the truth, I believed what he said.

The decision was made to transfer Joey to Children's Hospital Medical Center in Seattle as soon as a special infant ambulance, provided by Children's, arrived. At this point, the doctors did not hold much hope for his survival--but we were not told this.

Arrangements were also made for Mike's sister to keep the two older kids so that all the grandparents could accompany Mike and my daughter to Seattle. How all of this was accomplished, I have no memory, but it happened.

After arriving at Children's, we were informed that a special investigative physician was going to examine the baby. This was the first time I heard the term Shaken Baby Syndrome. I still did not know what it meant--and still believing Mike's version of events, I figured he had had to shake the baby in order to attempt to revive him.

In our attempts to make sense of all of this, we wracked our brains to remember anything of significance that might explain seizures or other potential 'causes'. I recalled seeing Joey having what could have been seizures during the three weeks previous, though I did not realize that is what it truly was. I mentioned the constant vomiting and fussiness. The only thing I did not mention to the investigating physician was the incident of noticing bruises in late May. It had slipped my mind.

We were advised that there would be an investigation by Child Protective Services and the Everett Police Department. This was 'routine' in all unexplained severe trauma situations, we were told. Although my daughter was incensed that the police would be involved, I managed to calm her enough to help her understand that we needed to cooperate with any and all efforts to find out what happened to Joey.

We recounted his birth, and even recreated a calendar trying to remember dates and times when anything potentially significant may have happened. We lived in the waiting area outside the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit from Friday afternoon thru Sunday evening. Mike's parents made arrangements to bring their 5th wheel trailer to a parking area where families were allowed to 'camp', so that Mike and my daughter could remain nearby. I went to Mike's sister's and retrieved the two older kids to care for them for however long they needed me.

That Sunday evening on the way to McDonald's for Happy Meals, my grandson asked me if Mike was going to go to jail for hurting Joey. Without showing any visible signs of upset, I asked him to tell me what happened. He told me that Mike had "got mad and shaked Joey really really hard." Knowing that the EPD was beginning an investigation, I decided not to panic about this revelation but did inform my daughter that her son had told me that Mike had done something. She asked me to bring him to the trailer the following day because they wanted to "straighten him out on what happened." I agreed to bring both kids to the hospital to see their brother, but I told her it was not wise to "straighten him out" about anything.

After a week in the ICU, Joey was moved to a crib on a regular ward. By this time it was determined that he had sustained severe brain damage, retinal hemorrhaging and some amount of paralysis on his left side. He had had fluid removed from his brain to reduce pressure, was on medication to prevent seizures and on a very intensive IV antibiotic that required him to remain hospitalized until the end of August.

On July 24th, Mike had an appointment at EPD headquarters to take a polygraph examination. My daughter was scheduled to take a similar polygraph the following day. At about 10:00 AM, I received a call from my daughter saying that Mike had phoned her and told her that instead of taking the polygraph, he had confessed to shaking Joey. From this point on, our lives were irrevocably changed.

Mike was not formally arrested at this time. Rather he was allowed to work, to visit the hospital as often as he wanted to, and was 'cooperating' in the investigation. I contacted Detective John Burgess, the lead officer on the case, and told him that my grandson had disclosed to me what had happened on July 12th. Detective Burgess made arrangements to have my grandson interviewed by one of his associates on July 31st.

The two older children stayed with my sister and her family through most of July and then went to stay with Mike's sister at the beginning of August. Child Protective Services also became involved very heavily at this point and in mid-August arrangements were made for the two older children stay at Mike's sister's until the end of August at which time they would be placed with my son and his wife in Oak Harbor. It was decided that Joey would remain in the hospital until the end of August at which time he would live with his paternal grandparents. As the maternal grandparent, I was to be allowed liberal visitation with all three children. These arrangements lasted until mid-November when family relationships began to break down.

Because I was a corroborative witness to my grandson's potential testimony in the criminal case, it was recommended that I not have contact with him to forestall any accusations of 'coaching' a criminal witness. I agreed to this because I felt so strongly about seeing justice done for Joey. It broke my heart not to see my grandchildren for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

A few days before Christmas, the two older kids were moved from family care to foster care. Part of the reason for this was because my daughter still insisted that she wanted her marriage to Mike to work and her belief that he had "only made a little mistake." It took months before she made the decision to file for divorce and accept that what Mike did to her son was more than "a little mistake."

Mike was arraigned on January 8, 1997 in Snohomish County Superior Court on charges of first degree assault of a child. Stories related to this case from The Seattle Times and The Everett Herald are included on this website. The stories contain many inaccuracies but that is pretty typical of news reporting.

Trial was set for March 25, 1997, but that was not to be. As is often the case, there were continuances which put it off to May 2, then to May 27. Just prior to the May 27 date, it was continued yet again to July 14. At the calendar call on July 11, it was continued to July 31 and intimations were made that Mike was ready to plea bargain.

On July 31, 1997, nearly 13 months after the assault, Mike made an Alford plea in front of Snohomish County Superior Court Judge David Hulbert. For those who are unaware, an Alford plea is one where the defendant agrees that the evidence is such that there is a reasonable expectation he would be found guilty based on the evidence presented, if the case were to go to trial. It is NOT an admission of guilt. The Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney's office had been planning to ask for a sentence of somewhere in the 25-30 year range for this offense. The defense wanted the low end of the standard range of 7-11 years. A compromise was reached for an exceptional sentence (above standard range).

On September 26, 1997, Mike was sentenced to 182 months (approximately 15 years) in prison and a no contact order to remain in effect all of Joey's natural life.

Joey is now 17 months old. He remains with Mike's parents. He cannot sit alone yet. His vision is questionable--he may very well be blind. He is still partially paralyzed on the left side. His prognosis for any improvement is minimal, but we pray every day for what little might be possible. I have not seen this child since he was 5 months old.

The two older children remain in foster care at this time. I hear reports on their welfare from their Guardian Ad Litem (a person appointed by the court to represent the interests of the child)and they seem to be happy and progressing. I have not seen my grandson since February 6, 1997 and have not seen my granddaughter since March 28, 1997.

My daughter and I have a very strained relationship since all of this has happened. I have hopes that someday we will be able to resume the relationship we once had, but the outlook seems especially bleak at this time.

By telling my story here and providing links to information on Shaken Baby Syndrome, I hope to alert more parents and grandparents as well as the public at large to something that can be so easily prevented. I have heard Mike tell family members and the court that he "did not mean to do this." However, that does NOTHING to change the fact that he assaulted a 2-month-old defenseless child. As my fiancé said once, "What did he think was going to happen when he shook that baby? That he was going to giggle??"

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