Kokomo, Ind.—
A three-week old infant is recovering from two broken legs after his mother repeatedly beat him. She is now behind bars after the beatings were caught on tape.Fox 59 spoke exclusively with the newborn's grandparents who were responsible for turning their daughter in.
Shanice Thomas and her newborn baby had only been home from the hospital a couple of days when her parents, who she lived with, noticed something wasn't right.
"Before he was a week old she started calling him a brat," remembers Shanice's step-mom Samantha Thomas.
Her parents say Shanice wouldn't feed the child or give it any attention.
"She wouldn't talk to him," says Shanice's father Monroe Thomas.
Then Desmond hurt his leg.
"She told me that it could have broken because it popped when she was changing him," Samantha remembers.
That's when they decided to install a camera to record what they weren't seeing. And when they watched the footage, they were floored.
"I saw her draw her hand back and punch him in the chest. So I jumped up she was laying on the couch and I told her to hand me the baby now," says Monroe.
The Thomas's called police and upon reviewing the tape, it got worse.
"She got back grabbed his leg and she twisted it with full force and just to hear him scream it was awful....now he's not even here."
Shanice was taken into custody and will be tried as an adult.
"I just seen her in court she's crying. She's hurting from it."
As for little Desmond, he was placed in a foster home after being treated in the hospital for two broken legs. That's because seven years ago, Monroe Thomas was charged with sexual misconduct with a minor. Something he says was a big misunderstanding.
"I have to live with it every day. It's not me. I will not hurt no kids," he says.
Now the Thomas's sit in their living room full of Desmond's things while strangers care for him.
"When he cries we can't get him. They don't know what he likes or how we've been taking care of him."
A painful reminder of what was and what could have been. All for doing what they thought was right.
"I'm frustrated and my heart's broken."
