Utah man allegedly smashed toddler's head against a wall leaving her with a fractured skull because she wouldn't stop crying
A Utah man has been arrested and charged after he confessed to smashing his infant daughter's head against a wall and punching her repeatedly to make her stop crying.
According to Salt Lake Tribune, following an investigation into the matter, Provo Police arrested 38-year-old Michael Chad Hill and charged him with two counts of child abuse, which is a second-degree felony.
A probable cause statement filed in connection to the case states that the Provo Police were contacted and briefed on the matter after Hill's three-month-old baby was brought to the Primary Children's Hospital with a fractured skull.
The statement describes the skull fracture as one that "started above the left ear... and went around the top of her head." It also said she was suffering from brain bleeds "fresh and old," and had bruising on her head and buttocks.
When initially interviewed at the hospital by detectives regarding his daughter's injuries, Hill is said to have claimed he had mistakenly dropped her and "that she may have hit her head on the metal legs of [a baby] swing."
However, hospital staff told the officer who interviewed the 38-year-old that it was "highly unlikely" the injuries the three-month-old sustained could have come from such a fall.
When Hill was questioned a second time, he reportedly confessed that "he hit his three-month-old daughter's head against the wall because she was crying." He admitted to hitting her "in the back of her head with a closed fist" and spanking her "approximately 10 times on her buttocks." He also told police he punched her in the back of her head on two previous occasions as well.
A GoFundMe page established by Hill's family in February indicated that the child was born with a "severe cleft palate and bilateral cleft lip" and that, after birth, she had to undergo several "extreme operations" that prevented her from nursing, including one that put a gastrointestinal tube directly into her stomach.
It also said she suffered from Diabetes insipidus which required her to have two shots a day to make up for the lack of a hormone called vasopressin and described her situation as "delicate".
The page said her parents "are some of the best people on the planet" — an assertion that will undoubtedly be questioned following the charges against Hill — and featured several pictures of Hill and his wife posing with the child, as well as their two-year-old son.
His wife, Nicole, reportedly graduated last month with a degree in Elementary Education and works full-time teaching fourth graders. She has not yet commented on her husband's arrest.
Hill is currently being held at the Utah County Jail. He has no prior criminal history or police record.