Everett boy left with brain damage; father faces charges

Published 10:16 pm Wednesday, November 11, 2009

EVERETT — When the 4-month-old baby came to the hospital, doctors believed he was nearly dead.

He had bruising on his brain, a ruptured bowel, internal bleeding, broken ribs, a lacerated liver, a fractured skull, bruises and what appeared to be a bite mark. All of those injuries weren’t accidental, doctors concluded.

Prosecutors this week charged the boy’s father with second-degree assault of a child.

Tyrus Jackson, 21, of Everett, is accused of abusing his son so severely that the boy was left profoundly brain damaged and blind. The boy can’t eat on his own and must be fed through a feeding tube, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Chris Dickinson wrote in charging documents.

He will be 2 in January.

Authorities were alerted to the abuse in May 2008, when Jackson and the boy’s grandmother brought the infant into the emergency room at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.

Jackson allegedly told authorities he woke up from a nap and found his son limp, motionless and turning purple, Dickinson wrote.

The doctors quickly assessed that the boy’s condition was dire. He was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Medical staff there determined that some of the boy’s injuries were new and others appeared to be older. They concluded the boy had been abused.

Detectives interviewed the boy’s mother. She told investigators that she was carrying the boy the night before and fell down some stairs, Dickinson wrote. She said that the boy didn’t appear to be injured from the fall.

A doctor told investigators that a fall as described by the boy’s mother wouldn’t have led to the near fatal injuries they discovered, Dickinson wrote.

Detectives interviewed Jackson. He stayed home with the boy while the infant’s mother worked long hours outside the home, court papers said. He initially denied abusing his son, Dickinson wrote.

Detectives interviewed him again in April. They said Jackson changed his story.

He told detectives that the boy had been crying and fussy, according to court papers. He said his son “wouldn’t listen to him,” Dickinson wrote. He told police that he chastised the boy by poking him in the chest. He also allegedly told them he picked up the boy and shook and squeezed him.

In court papers, Dickinson said the abuse was aggravated because Jackson knew that the boy was particularly vulnerable and couldn’t defend himself.

Jackson has four prior convictions for assault. He also is a defendant in a pending drug charge, Dickinson wrote.

The boy’s grandparents are in the process of adopting him.