A 47-year-old Taylorsville babysitter has been arrested for allegedly causing the death of a baby. She is currently held in Salt Lake County Jail. (Kristin Murphy, Deseret News)
TAYLORSVILLE, Utah — A 47-year-old Taylorsville babysitter has been arrested for allegedly causing the death of an infant she was babysitting.
Taylorsville Police Department responded to a report of an unresponsive female infant on Thursday, Oct. 13, according to a probable cause statement.
At the time of the incident, the five-month-old was at the home of and under the care of Paulina Carmona-Simbron, who was babysitting her.
According to the probable cause statement, the baby had no visible injuries upon the officer’s arrival. Along with this, the statement says there were no obvious signs of foul play.
The infant was transported to Intermountain Medical Center and then Primary Children’s Hospital.
Carmona-Simbron told officers that she had heard the baby cough, while sleeping in a crib in her living room. Carmona-Simbron said she then picked her up and saw the baby turn blue and stop breathing. Carmona-Simbron’s 10-year-old daughter called the police following this, the probable cause statement reports.
At Primary Children’s it was found that the baby had sustained severe internal injuries of the brain/head, according to the probable cause statement. Doctors did not expect her to survive due to these injuries.
She died at Primary Children’s the next day.
The probable cause statement states that her injuries are consistent with those of Shaken Baby Syndrome.
Carmona-Simbron was questioned by police. During a post-Miranda interview, she told a consistent story, of picking the five and a half month old up after hearing her cough, the same story she had told officers at the scene.
Police gave Carmona-Simbron a doll so she could demonstrate how she picked up the baby. The probable cause statement states that Carmona-Simbron handled the doll “in a fashion that resembled violent and harsh movement.”
When this was brought to her attention, Carmona-Simbron changed the way she held the doll. She held it still as if she were rocking it, the probably cause statement states.
“She also physically demonstrated that she held the infant on the torso with both hands, without supporting her head,” the statement reads. “Carmona bounced [the baby] on her knee up and down, which is believed to be an inappropriate manner, due to a [five and a half month] old child not having the strength to support their head.”
Carmona-Simbron was charged with child abuse homicide and is currently being held in the Salt Lake County Jail.