Springfield woman indicted in connection to baby’s broken leg

A Springfield woman was indicted in connection to a baby’s broken leg and authorities allege she knowingly caused the injury.

However, the specific allegations against Michelle Rice, 29, are still unclear. Information about what exactly led up to a 9-month-old breaking his leg on Dec. 27 and what actions Rice allegedly did to hurt the child have not been released to the public.

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Clark County Assistant Prosecutor Aaron Heskett and Prosecutor Dan Driscoll declined to comment on the case other than to say the state believes Rice “knowingly caused” the injury.

Rice’s attorney, Charles Ricketts, filed a motion last week demanding the state hand over evidence against Rice and also demanded a bill of particulars — a court document that usually lays out the facts of the case in the perspective of the prosecutor.

Those documents have not been filed in the case, according to a review by the Springfield News-Sun.

An affidavit filed in Clark County Municipal Court details the investigation conducted by the Springfield Police Division. However, it falls short of laying out what authorities believed occurred.

Police began their investigation on Dec. 28 when they were called to Dayton Children’s Hospital, according to the affidavit. Authorities and the parents agreed that the child should live with a relative at that time, according to the affidavit.

Authorities then interviewed a young child who lives in the house on Jan. 8.

“During that interview, she stated that she removed the child victim from the crib and placed him on the bed all without her step-mom watching her,” the affidavit says. “(The daughter) stated that she played with the child victim on the bed and he was laughing. She stated that she had to go to the bathroom at which time she left the child victim unattended on the bed.”

The child told police she then went and sat on a couch until her mother asked where the baby was and the child told her the baby was upstairs, the affidavit says.

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“(The child) stated that she heard the child victim cry,” the affidavit said. “She indicated that this was ‘not a normal cry.’ ”

The girl told police it was at this time that she heard her stepmother cry and that her dad was called, according to the affidavit.

Before the interview with the child, it was determined that while (the child) was gone, the child victim rolled off the bed and allegedly landed upside down on his head, the affidavit says. The mother reportedly told police that she picked up the child under his arms and the child began to cry. Rice said she couldn’t calm the baby and called her husband home and took the child to the hospital, according to the affidavit.

A doctor said the story told doesn’t add up because the child would have a head injury instead of a broken leg, according to the affidavit.

A next court date in the case has not been set.

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