Mother claims her baby’s back was an accident
According to police, Wanda Jackson faces murder and child abuse charges after she intentionally broke her child’s back. However, she claims it was an accident. The autopsy report states the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head and torso.
PHOENIX – A Phoenix Mother is accused murder and child abuse in connection with the death of her newborn daughter.
On March 11, 2024, according to court documents, 26-year-old Wanda Johnson was awakened by her three-month-old daughter’s seizure. Johnson claimed the seizure stopped and she went back to sleep. Johnson was awakened a second time by her daughter’s seizure and took the baby to a hospital.
Upon arrival at the hospital, the child was in critical condition and was flown by helicopter to Phoenix Children’s Hospital, where he died two days later.
“Medical staff at Phoenix Children(sic) Hospital reported that the toddler suffered a brain hemorrhage, brain swelling, diffuse cerebral edema, multiple broken ribs, a liver laceration and other internal injuries,” court documents state.
An autopsy revealed that the toddler had suffered blunt force injuries to the head and chest.
Johnson initially denied causing the child’s injuries, but in a follow-up interview on August 26, Johnson told investigators that she had squeezed her daughter and cracked her back.
“Wanda demonstrated using a baby doll how to crack her toddler’s back,” court documents state. “Wanda stood up and held the doll with both arms wrapped around her torso, squeezing to apply some pressure to the spine and making a downward squeezing and shaking motion with the doll. Wanda stated that the baby’s back did not crack the first time, which prompted her to try a second time.”
Johnson was arrested and taken to jail. She is being held on $1 million bail.
