A 39-year-old Lincoln woman is accused of felony assault in connection to a 10-month-old girl brought to a hospital a month ago with a life-threatening head injury.
LPD Officer Luke Bonkiewicz said Crystal L. Demers was arrested Monday morning by U.S. Marshals in Johnson County.Â
The Lancaster County Attorney's Office charged Demers on Friday with first-degree assault and felony child abuse causing serious injury. If convicted, she could get one to 50 years in prison on each of the counts.Â
In the affidavit for Demers' arrest, Lincoln Police Investigator Robert Norton said police were sent to Bryan East Campus early March 4 about the girl's injury, which required emergency surgery at Bryan West Campus.
She had been brought to the hospital by Demers and another woman. Doctors found the girl had bleeding on her brain.
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After surgery, she was taken by helicopter to a hospital in Omaha. A month later, Bonkiewicz said, the girl is still there in serious condition.Â
In court records, Norton said the girl's mother had left her in Demers' care for about a month before the injury. He said police believe that late on the morning of March 3, Demers struck the girl on both sides of her head with open hands, simultaneously, then threw her on the couch, causing the child to fall on the floor.
Norton said Demers noticed the girl was lethargic at about 6 p.m. and tried to wake her until another woman returned home at about 12:30 a.m. and saw the girl had an obvious head injury.Â
Demers' two children, a 2- and 4-year-old, were removed from the home by the state as a result of the abuse allegation.
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Learn about the candidates' positions on the issues before voting in the May 4 general election.Â
Learn about the candidates' positions on the issues before voting. Two will be elected in the May 4 general election.