Fund helps battered infants
STEVEN MROSS
The Sentinel-Record
A fund has been set up to help two infants who were injured, one critically, when they were allegedly battered by their father last week, according to Garland County Sheriff’s reports.
The father, identified as Jason Blaine Plummer, 18, of 167 Zander Trail, was arrested around 2:30 p.m. last Thursday and charged with felony counts of first-degree domestic battery, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, second-degree domestic battery, punishable by up to 10 years, and three counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, punishable by up to six years.
He was initially held without bond until an appearance in Garland County District Court. He remained in custody Wednesday in lieu of $100,000 bond and is set for another hearing in district court on Dec. 17, although the charges will later be bound over to Garland County Circuit Court.
According to the affidavit, on Nov. 14, an investigation was opened by the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division by investigator Amanda Chaney in reference to the victims, a female, Payton Plummer, 6 months old, and male, Xavier Plummer, almost 22 months old, both the children of Jason Plummer and Amber Arnold, 18, who live together at the Zander Trail residence.
Payton was brought to Mercy Hospital Hot Springs around 10 a.m. on Nov. 13 by her father and presented as “unresponsive with brain bleed discovered, a skull fracture and noted bruising.”
Xavier accompanied his father to the emergency room “wearing nothing but a T-shirt and diaper” even though the temperature at the time was 40 degrees, the affidavit states.
It was also noted by GCSD investigator Russell Severns that a previous case alleging abuse was investigated by the Department of Human Services in recent months.
Payton was airlifted to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock with life threatening injuries and was accompanied by her mother. Upon arrival, the victim’s injuries were listed as fractured ribs, a fractured right femur, subdural hemotoma and fractured right hand.
Based on descriptions by witnesses, she was described as having been “posturing,” defined as “an involuntary flexion or extension of the arms and legs, indicating severe brain injury.”
Around 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 14, Chaney phoned Severns and stated Jason Plummer had confessed to her via phone to abusing Payton. He was formally interviewed by Severns and Chaney around 1:30 p.m. at the sheriff’s department and gave a statement after waiving his rights.
He stated that on Oct. 15, he got angry at Payton when she wouldn’t go to sleep so he “picked her up and dropped her to the floor.” He stated she fell from about his chest to the floor and landed on her stomach. The report notes Plummer is 6 feet tall.
On Nov. 13, around 10 a.m., Payton was crying again and “would not fall asleep,” Plummer stated, so he “grabbed her by the rib cage, picked her up, and shook her vigorously.”
He states she continued to cry so he threw her onto the edge of a bed. She “bounced off of the bed onto the floor and continued to cry” so he picked her up by her right leg and slung her about eight feet across the room onto a couch which had several items on it.”
The suspect said she stopped crying at that point and was “having trouble breathing.”
Plummer states he drove to his brother’s nearby place of business for help instead of calling 911 because “he feared getting in trouble.”
He left Xavier in the house alone for a period of time until he returned home and called for an ambulance for Payton. Then he put Xavier into a car seat “without appropriate clothing” and drove to the hospital ahead of the ambulance transporting Payton.
According to a flyer about the fund to help the victims, Payton has “a skull fracture with brain bleeding, bleeding in the retinas of both eyes, broken ribs, her right leg is in a cast and her left leg has been broken but healed” and “she is having seizures.”
The flyer notes Payton has to see four doctors in Little Rock this week, including an neurologist, her eye doctor, a bone doctor and her regular doctor and notes the mother is “a full time student with no job.”
For anyone wishing to donate to help with expenses and prescriptions a fund has been set up and can be accessed at: http://www.gofundme.com/ 5d3ph8.
