PARKER — The parents of a Parker child have been arrested after their 5-month-old was hospitalized with a fractured arm and broken ribs, according to Parker Police Department documents.
Molly Elizabeth Bush, 38, and Eric Dewayne Smitherman, 26, have each been arrested and charged with child neglect and aggravated child abuse, respectively. Police intervened after an incident Monday, which ended with their 5-month-old child being taken to a local hospital with serious injuries, and the two subsequently were taken to the Bay County Jail, police reported.
Smitherman was arrested Monday for allegedly shaking his 5-month-old to stop the child from crying. During the incident, the baby suffered a spiral fracture to the left arm and also sustained broken ribs, according to arrest reports.
Police said that as Smitherman shook the infant, Bush — the mother of the child — did not attempt to stop the alleged abuse. Bush also did not contact law enforcement before taking the child to the hospital, police said.
Police claimed Smitherman was under the influence of narcotics at the time, according to arrest reports. Bush told investigators she had sold Smitherman hydrocodone, and he previously had been under the influence of cocaine and methamphetamine.
Bush told police that Smitherman had been violent with her other children in the past, but those incidents also went unreported on her part.
On one occasion in January 2014, Smitherman was arrested on charges of battery on Bush while she was pregnant with the child. He also was charged with depriving a victim of communication with law enforcement when Bush attempted to call police during the incident. Dispatchers at the Panama City Police Department could hear a brief moment of the altercation before Smitherman snatched the phone from her against her will and hung up, court records indicated.
During his bond hearing Monday, Smitherman requested he be allowed to bond out because he needed to provide care for his elderly mother.
“Weren’t you also supposed to be caring for your child?” Circuit Judge Shane Vann replied.
Smitherman is being held without bond after violating his probation from the January 2014 incident. He was given a bond of $50,000 for the charge of aggravated child abuse.
Bush was arrested on charges of child neglect. Her bond was set at $15,000.