PHOENIX — A Valley mother has been charged in connection to the death of her 3-month-old baby. The little girl died back in March after her mother said she tried to perform a “back cracking adjustment” on the infant.
According to court documents, Wanda Johnson is facing a charge of first-degree murder and child abuse following her baby’s death.
The child died on March 12 after being in the hospital for two days.
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An autopsy showed the child suffered multiple injuries including the following:
- Subdural hemorrhage
- Bilateral subarachnoid hemorrhage and marked cerebral edema
- Optic nerve sheath hemorrhage
- Spinal cord subdural hemorrhage
- Multiple acute rib fractures
- Pulmonary contusions of the right lung
- Liver laceration
The child was also found to have two rib fractures that had previously healed at some point during the child’s three-month life.
Police were called to Phoenix Children's Hospital on March 11
According to court documents, the investigation into the child’s death began on March 11, when police were called to Phoenix Children’s Hospital about a possible child abuse case.
Before the arrival of police, Johnson told nurses at the hospital that she woke up in the early morning hours to the little girl “seizing in bed beside her,” court documents said.
Johnson, after having her brother conduct an internet search for the symptoms, wrapped the little girl in a blanket, believing the child was “cold” and then went back to sleep, the documents further detailed.
“Wanda did not call for an ambulance and did not take her infant daughter to the hospital after the first seizure,” documents said.
At 3:30 a.m., the little girl again began “seizing.” This time Johnson “had her roommate record it on her phone,” documents said.
After that, Johnson took the child to Banner Estrella Hospital.
When the child arrived at the hospital, staff said she was in “critical condition” and she was airlifted to the Phoenix Children's Hospital.
At Phoenix Children’s Hospital, staff found the little girl had multiple injuries including “brain bleed, swelling of the brain, difussed cerebral adema, multiple fractured ribs, laceration to the liver, and other internal injuries.”
Johnson told medical staff she did not cause the injuries observed in the child, according to court documents.
The baby died 2 days later
The little girl died two days later on, March 13.
The following day, an autopsy was performed by the medical examiner’s office.
The baby's cause of death was found to be “blunt force injuries of the head and torso as a result of being assaulted.” The death was ruled a homicide.
Police interview
During an initial interview with police, Johnson denied she had injured the little girl but then in a follow-up interview told investigators that on March 10 she “performed a back cracking adjustment on her infant daughter” while visiting her sister.
Using a doll, Johnson showed investigators how the “adjustment” was performed on the baby.
“Wanda stood up and held the doll with both arms wrapped around the torso, squeezed to put some pressure on the spine, and made a downward squeezing and shaking motion with the doll,” documents said.
Johnson said the “adjustment” was performed a second time after the baby’s “back did not crack” during the first attempt.
Johnson also told investigators she had learned to perform the “adjustment” from her sister. Additionally, Johnson said this was the only time she had done this to the baby.
Sister denies teaching 'adjustment' to Johnson
Johnson’s sister was interviewed by investigators after the baby died. She denied seeing Johnson perform the “adjustment” on the child during the March 10 visit, according to court documents.
The sister also denied teaching the technique to Johnson.
Baby wakes up during the night
According to court documents, after visiting her sister on March 10, Johnson returned to her home with the baby and her brother.
Johnson said after they returned home, the baby was undressed and they both went to bed.
At some point the baby woke up crying and refused to eat food, documents said. Johnson and the child went back to sleep.
Investigators interviewed Johnson’s roommate who told them that just before 2 a.m. on March 11, she had overheard Johnson and her brother speaking. They were “talking about taking a video and looking something up about the baby.” Then around 10-15 minutes later Johnson called the roommate downstairs and asked her to look something up on her phone. Johnson also told the roommate that the baby “had been seizing for a while.”
The roommate went back upstairs but was called by Johnson again at around 3:45 a.m. At this point, Johnson requested that the roommate record the baby while she was “seizing.”
The roommate told Johnson the baby needed to go to the emergency room.
Johnson was booked into jail after she allegedly told police it was a possibility she caused the injuries to the child. She also admitted that trying to crack the baby's back was probably a reckless idea.
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