News footage of Kieran Ansley during a court appearance at the Grand Rapids 61st District Court (WOOD).
A former NICU nurse at a Michigan hospital is out on bond after being accused of abusing a premature baby.
Kieran Ansley, 43, was charged with four counts of child abuse after police said a 4-month-old baby girl was found with several serious injuries while being treated in the NICU at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. According to court records obtained by local NBC affiliate WOOD, the baby was born four months premature in November 2025 and was due to be discharged from the hospital in April 2026. Police said that when the baby's parents visited her in the NICU that month, her mother found several bruises on the little girl and saw that her tongue was "blue and almost black."
According to the court records, the parents arrived for the visit at 6:30 a.m. on April 3, and Ansley, the NICU nurse on duty at the time, "got up from his seat and 'jogged' to cut them off before getting to the room."
Police said the baby's parents had visited their daughter the night before and did not see the bruises they saw the following morning. When confronted by the parents, the now-former nurse told the parents that the baby "slept through the night" and that the baby's tongue turning blue was "not a big deal."
Medical staff told police that when the baby was examined, it was determined that she had suffered multiple fractures to both legs and bruising on nearly every part of her body. According to court documents, medical tests determined that the injuries were the result of physical abuse after ruling out any other medical conditions.
The baby's grandfather, Robert Steavens, told WOOD that the little girl was scheduled to go home two days before she was found with injuries. On the day she was reportedly found with injuries, she was being prepared for surgery.
According to court documents, police spoke with other members of the medical staff who had treated the baby girl and worked with Ansley. They described Ansley as "scatterbrained," "overwhelmed," and "in over his head." One worker told police that on the night he was assigned to care for the baby, Ansley "seemed flustered and a little bit frustrated with his assignment for the night."
Police said Ansley had not previously been assigned to care for the baby girl. According to reporting on the court documents by local ABC affiliate WZZM, Ansley refused help from other members of the staff while on duty and caring for the baby. Multiple nurses who worked with Ansley claimed that he handled babies more aggressively than they would.
Corewell Health confirmed to WOOD and WZZM in separate statements that Ansley was no longer employed at the hospital and that the organization was cooperating with the investigation.
Ansley was arrested earlier this month and is now free on bond. He was ordered to wear an electronic tether and is scheduled to appear in court again on Nov. 3. WOOD spoke to his defense attorney, Damian Nunzio, who said Ansley is a "good person" with "many years" working as a nurse. He said Ansley is cooperating fully with police.
Steavens told WOOD that his granddaughter, now 10 months old, has fully recovered and is "doing wonderful" at home with her family.