Noah Brown: Indiana boy, 3, critically injured after his babysitter, 12, beats and throws him into a wall
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: A three-year-old Indiana boy's life is on the line after he suffered severe head injuries at the hands of his 12-year-old babysitter with 'anger issues'. The babysitter whose name has not been disclosed reportedly beat and threw him into a wall, according to the victim's family.
Noah Brown is sedated and on life support at the Riley Children’s Hospital where he has suffered multiple seizures as a result of the November 29 ordeal at his father's home on South Lyons Avenue in Indianapolis, Fox 59 reports.
Who was the babysitter?
In an online petition, Noah’s mother Michelle Lane said that the babysitter was her ex-husband’s stepson who was supposed to care for the three-year-old and his five-year-old brother. He has since been charged with aggravated assault, two counts of serious bodily injury to a person under the age of 14 and possession of personal weapons.
What did Noah Brown's grandmother say?
Noah was happy and full of life before the vicious assault, his grandmother Candy King told McClatchy News. “On the go, he loves everyone. He will brighten up your day, that’s for sure,” she said.
“(The 12-year-old) has anger issues and Noah started to cry,” King told the outlet, adding “(He) couldn’t handle it so he beat him with a belt and threw him towards the bed and his head hit the bed frame of the bunk bed.” The babysitter then rammed Noah’s head into a wall and he collapsed under the bed after trying to get away, she said.
Noah Brown had a part of his skull removed
“He has had to be placed on life support and has had a part of his skull removed due to the intensity of his injuries,” Noah’s mother said in an online petition. “The 12-year-old boy told his biological father that my son was being ‘annoying’ while crying so he hit him with a belt, hit his head on the bunk bed frame and rammed him at a wall,” she wrote. She said her son has suffered multiple seizures.
“He has a long road to recovery,” Lane told Fox 59, adding “It’s not guaranteed what his quality of life is going to be but we’re praying and hoping for the best that he comes out just fine.” To make things even worse, she said Noah also is battling Covid-19. In her petition, Lane wrote that “there is no law on the age requirement for babysitting a minor in the state of Indiana."
“We believe there should be an age requirement of 16 years old to babysit any child under the age of six,” she wrote, adding “As well as the person watching and caring for that child to have no uncontrolled mental health illnesses for safety of the children under the sitters care and the sitter watching that/those children in their care.”
Meanwhile, King told McClatchy News that “the doctors are removing the breathing tube and neck brace to see if he can breathe on his own all the way,” adding that “they stopped the sedation medicine (because) they want him to wake up fully.”
