COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A North Lawndale man abused his 7-week-old daughter so severely she was left with multiple broken bones, seizures and head injuries, prosecutors said in court Sunday.
Dmel R. Hughes, 25, was arrested and charged with aggravated battery to a child with great bodily harm.
His daughter, born on Aug. 26, was taken on Thursday to Lurie Children's Hospital, where a doctor found she had a skull fracture, bleeding on the brain, seizures, lack of oxygen to the brain, rib fractures along with other bone fractures and a burn on her tongue, Assistant State's Attorney Anthony Lucafo said.
Hughes admitted to authorities that he hurt his daughter several times, according to an arrest report.
He admitted that he shook his daughter violently, yanked her right leg, squeezed her until she lost consciousness and threw her headfirst onto a bed where she hit her head onto a TV remote, according to the report and Lucafo. The girl was hurt in her home in the 1800 block of South Karlov Avenue, according to court documents.
Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. ordered Hughes held without bail on Sunday.
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the infant's mother and father, and the girl's two siblings have been placed in the care of relatives, DCFS spokeswoman Karen Hawkins said. DCFS has not had reports about this family before, Hawkins said.
