Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – Police arrested a Jonesboro man after they said he severely injured his seven-week-old baby, resulting in injuries such as a brain bleed and broken ribs.

Judge Barbara Halsey found probable cause Aug. 31 to charge 22-year-old Caleb Tarnell Allen with first-degree domestic battering causing serious physical injury, a class B felony.

According to the probable cause affidavit, on Aug. 28, Jonesboro police were notified by Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock that a seven-week-old child was transported from Jonesboro and admitted in critical condition.

The infant’s documented injuries included a brain hemorrhage, healing rib fractures, retinal hemorrhaging, and spinal hemorrhaging. Officers noted that the child did not have any known medical conditions that would result in these injuries.

According to detectives, the child’s parents were initially unable to explain how the baby received the injuries. The father, Allen, was soon questioned by an investigator.

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The affidavit said that during a subsequent Mirandized interview, Allen admitted to being told about the child suffering from a brain bleed and rib fractures, but confessed he did not tell medical personnel at either hospital about dropping the baby.

Allen went on to say that after dropping the child, he immediately picked him up off the floor and began to shake him in an attempt to wake him up, failing to support the infant’s head in the process, the affidavit said. He noted that this occurred just before 911 was called and the victim received medical treatment.

The affidavit continues by saying that Allen admitted to picking up the child several times in the recent past while angry; he believed he squeezed the child too tightly and shook him back and forth momentarily. Detectives determined these actions by Allen were consistent with the child’s documented injuries, and he was taken into custody.

At Monday’s hearing, Halsey issued Allen a $50,000 cash/surety bond. He was also ordered to have no contact with the child.

The affidavit noted that the victim was still in need of “intense medical treatment” at the time of the report. If the condition of the child worsens, there may be a possibility of additional charges, Halsey advised.

Allen’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 30.

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