Father is accused of shaking 6-month-old daughter

 

CHESAPEAKE — The case against a South Point man accused of severely shaking and injuring his 6-month-old daughter was sent to the Lawrence County Grand Jury after a hearing Friday in Lawrence County Municipal Court.

Jerry Schrode, 28, of 89 Township Road 1013, remains in the Lawrence County Jail under a $300,000 bond. He is charged with second-degree felonious assault.

During the Friday hearing, Lawrence County Sheriff’s Detective Aaron Bollinger said the child was taken by ambulance to Cabell Huntington Hospital in Huntington, W.Va., July 29 with bleeding behind the eye and in the retina. Bollinger testified there were also bruises on the child.

Bollinger said when he first spoke to Shrode about the child’s injuries, Schrode told him he had gone to get the child a bottle and left her alone on the sofa. Shrode told Bollinger he heard a noise and found the child on the carpeted floor.

Bollinger said Schrode later changed his story.

“He said she was fussy and he had gotten frustrated and he got mad and threw her on the couch,” Bollinger testified. “The arm (of the couch) has a piece of hard wood.”

Defense attorney Mike Davenport questioned why Bollinger had come to the conclusion the child was the victim of shaken baby syndrome.

“You’re saying the injuries to the child could not have happened by falling off the couch?” Davenpost asked.

“Correct,” Bollinger replied.

Bollinger said he was contacted by children’s services about the case and began his investigation July 31. The child has since been released from the hospital. The mother of the child was at work when the incident occurred.