A$25,000 bond was set Monday for a Pine Bluff couple after their child was taken to a Little Rock hospital for injuries that a doctor said “appeared to be child abuse.”
Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set the bond after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge Jaquan Lasley, 23, and Keyeisha Ford, 22, with endangering the welfare of a minor and permitting abuse.
According to a probable cause affidavit from Pine Bluff Police Detective Mike Sweeney, officers on Saturday were sent to Jefferson Regional Medical Center to assist an investigator with the Arkansas State Police who works with the Crimes Against Children and Families Unit.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
They then accompanied the investigator to a house in the 4400 block of West Burnett Street to continue the investigation and to check the welfare of other children there.
The 1-and-a-half-year-old child at the hospital had an injury to the right eye, which was almost swollen closed, a broken left arm, what appeared to be a bite mark to the abdomen, multiple bruises and scrapes and other marks to the arms and legs, which appeared to be older injuries.
When Ford was questioned, she said she saw the infant’s eye and asked Lasley about it since he had been babysitting while she was at work; he allegedly said he did not know how the injury happened.
Ford also allegedly said that over the past six weeks, she had noticed injuries to the child but did not report them because she did not want to lose her children to DHS.
A relative of Ford who also lived in the house told police she had seen Lasley beat the children while Ford watched.
The infant had been brought to the hospital by his grandmother and was later transferred to Arkansas Children’s Hospital at Little Rock. The Department of Human Services was notified but the affidavit did not indicate if they had taken custody of the other children in the house.
Lasley and Ford were ordered to have no contact with the infant until the case is settled.
The Public Defender’s Office was appointed to represent Lasley and Ford.
Vehicle blocking traffic Saturday results in drug arrest
A report that a vehicle was blocking traffic on the north side of Pine Bluff Saturday resulted in the arrest of a man on drug-related charges.
Johnathon Pittman, 30, was found asleep in the vehicle, which was in the intersection of West Second Avenue and University Drive at 9:15 p.m., Pine Bluff Police Vice and Narcotics Detective Jarrell Johnson said in a probable cause affidavit presented in district court Monday.
According to the affidavit, when officers approached the vehicle they saw suspected marijuana and a prescription bottle containing an unknown liquid in plain sight in the passenger seat. A second prescription bottle and additional suspected marijuana was found in the driver’s side door console.
Johnson reported that the suspected liquid tested positive for Hydrocodone, and the bottles and suspected marijuana will be sent to the Arkansas State Crime Laboratory at Little Rock for analysis.
Jefferson County District Judge Kim Bridgforth set a $5,000 bond for Pittman Monday after ruling prosecutors have probable cause to charge him with possession of a controlled substance.
The Public Defender’s Office was appointed to represent Pittman.