JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Two people have been arrested, one charged with aggravated child abuse and the other child neglect, after a child was brought to Orange Park Medical Center unresponsive.
Tuesday morning 23-year-old Kareem Jones and 21-year-old Cherale Jones were interviewed by homicide detectives with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. The detectives were interested in speaking to the two after investigation revealed "suspicious circimstances" regarding a child who is on life support at Wolfson Children's Hospital.
That child is their own, according to John Harrell, DCF spokesperson.
According to the couple's arrest reports, on Jan. 27 Cherale Jones laid the child face down on a "blanket surrounded by couch cushions for approximately 5-10 minutes, depriving the child of oxygen. As a result, the child lost consciousness."
When police asked her why she had done this, she stated it was due to stress, which she later described as the victim crying and the "things" she was "going through with my (her) mother," police wrote.
Instead of taking the child to the hospital to receive medical care, Cherale performed CPR, reviving the child. The two waited until the next morning to take the child to Orange Park Medical Center. Once doctors there realized the seriousness of the victim's condition, the child was transferred to Wolfson Children's Hospital.
Kareem Jones confessed to knowingly being there when his wife laid the child down on the blanket and couch cushions, and officers said Kareem stated they should have taken the victim to the hospital.
Medical staff at Wolfson Children's Hospital told officers the child has brain stem damage, and said they don't expect the child to survive once they are removed from the respirator.
Kareem Jones has been charged with child neglect. He is currently being held in the Duval County Jail in lieu of $50,003 bond. Cherale Jones is charged with Aggravated Child Abuse and is currently being held in the same facility. She is not eligible for bond.
First Coast News