Inset: Lance Kerschner (Hancock County Sheriff's Office). Background: The Hancock County Jail in Greenfield, Ind. (Google Maps).
An Indiana man is behind bars after he caused his 4-month-old daughter to suffer hemorrhages "too numerous to count," Hoosier State law enforcement says.
Lance Kerschner, 25, stands accused of one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in serious injury, according to the Greenfield Police Department.
The investigation dates back to the summer when law enforcement was contacted by the Department of Child Services after the defendant brought his unresponsive infant to a hospital.
The child was later transported to a children's hospital where staff monitored her for two brain bleeds, according to court documents obtained by Indianapolis-based Fox affiliate WXIN.
During an initial interview, the father said he picked the little girl up after the baby awoke from a nap and that when he stepped forward with the child in hand, he tripped on the couch. The defendant further claimed that he and the child landed on the couch after the fall. Kerschner said he eventually noticed the infant was not moving.
In a follow-up interview, the defendant offered a far more extensive timeline of what happened on the day in question, according to court documents obtained by local NBC affiliate WTHR.
In this second version of events, the child woke up from a nap around 11:30 a.m. and seemed "different," Kerschner allegedly told investigators, saying she was screaming more often.
After eating dinner, the child was put to bed around 8:30-8:45 p.m. and woke up crying roughly an hour later, the defendant said, according to the court documents. So, the father picked up the girl and asked her why she was crying. Kerschner then said he walked with the girl in his hands and tripped onto the couch.
After the fall, Kerschner told a relative what happened and rushed the baby to the hospital, according to the court documents.
One relative told authorities that when Kerschner is frustrated, he gets "loud and aggressive" and picks up the child "a little quicker and freaks out a little bit." When asked if he picked up the girl too quickly, the defendant told a Department of Child Services caseworker that it was a "possibility."
Later, the defendant seemingly admitted the girl's injuries "had to have" been due to him shaking her when he was stressed out.
Whatever the cause, the child had "several brain bleeds" and hemorrhages "too numerous to count," according to law enforcement. Those injuries were not consistent with a fall but, rather, with inflicted trauma, authorities said.
Later, Kerschner told investigators that he noticed the baby was not moving while changing her diaper, so he contacted a relative and "started to panic," according to the court documents. Then, when he tried to put the girl in her car seat, he found she was "limp."
The defendant allegedly said that at one point, the television was on and the baby was crying, explaining how simultaneous sounds can nearly bring on a migraine. Kerschner added that he doesn't know what to do when the baby is crying, according to law enforcement.
The defendant eventually told investigators it was all "my fault" and provided more detail, the court documents say.
"I mean, I hurt my daughter and I feel horrible about it," Kerschner allegedly told police. "I just wish I was in a coma."
The defendant is being detained without bond in the Hancock County Jail.
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