How a 5-month-old infant gets several rib >> Maybe maybe I did maybe I did do it. He screamed. He screamed at me and then I said stop and I walked up. Then I hit it wasn't too much. It was just it could get more. I remember my hands firmly on him. But I did not squeeze. >> You just told me 10 minutes ago you did. >> On March 13th, 2025, officers were called to a hospital after doctors noticed something unusual during a routine check on a young family member. >> Ferry Bridge Duty, this is Gina. >> Hi Gina, this is Officer Huberts with the Port Orchard Police Department. I'm calling for social worker Maxi. >> Social work, this is Maxi. >> Hi Maxi, this is Officer Huberts with the Port Orchard Police Department. >> Hi, how are you? >> Good. So, what do you got going on tonight? >> We got a 5-month-old here that has both old and it looks like possibly rib fractures, um some facial and forehead head bruising. >> Okay. >> Um when I asked uh parents if they knew how that could have happened, they have absolutely no idea. There's no other caregivers. Baby doesn't go to daycare. With parents all the time. >> Okay, so with with parents all the time, is the child crawling or anything of that nature? >> No. >> Okay. >> They didn't know of the rib fractures until we did the scan. And then the head bruising, they said was from a toy that the baby plays with aggressively. >> Okay. You said there was old and new fractures? >> The bone survey says uh bilateral healing rib fractures, um and left side rib >> What's the demeanor of the parents right now? I mean, do they do they seem concerned? Are they kind of like, "Eh." >> They seem concerned. There is a note on file that is locked from them. One of the nurses overheard mom telling dad like she's done and dad replied with, "I'm so sorry. It all happened so fast." But there's no context to this. >> Right. >> Any of that. But this was after they were notified of the report. >> Okay. So, due to manpower issues, what we're going to do is I'm going to notify my supervisor. My supervisor's getting going to get in contact with one of our detectives. So, somebody will be calling you back within the next little while. It may be a detective, it may be me calling you back to let you know what's going on. >> Hi. >> Hi. So, we got a hold of our detectives. So, they are one of them is on their way in and should hopefully be contacting you well, whenever they get into the office, hopefully within the next half hour. My body cam right here. As a parent, I'm a parent. This is probably a very emotional time for you. I want to take a second and just step back. You introduce yourself, tell me a little bit about yourself. I just want to get to know you, want to get to know your baby, want to get to know your family. Can you state your name for me? >> My name is Taylor Marie Cruz. I came from Phoenix, Arizona about 2 years ago. I guess almost 3 now. Um with my boyfriend. We both worked at the same place, Cracker Barrel. I lived there my whole life up until 2 3 years ago. Did it on a whim. >> Okay. Awesome. Tell me a little bit about the history. You can go as far back as the pregnancy. >> So, you know, it was always my mom's dream that I would you know, go to college, then get married, then have a kid. But I just believed in live life the way you should. >> Mhm. >> And I was in a very happy and we wanted to share that with another person. So, you know, we we were trying but not trying and um we were pregnant um a year prior. Um we had a miscarriage. Pregnancy was really smooth. I mean, you know, most people are like, "It's horrible. I hated it." And I'm like, I didn't really feel any different about it. >> It's always the second one that gets you. >> Yeah. That's why I was saying we waited about a few years before we think about >> Uh-huh. Right. >> But um no, it was easy going. Second trimester was beautiful. Third trimester was, you know, it's harder. You're bigger. You can't move around. You sleep crabby, but Richard took care of everything. He cleaned. He cooked for me. He helped pull my hair back when I threw up. He was It was a really great easy pregnancy. I had a lot of support from family. I even flew down to Arizona for a second baby shower cuz my mom lives there. We had him at, um, University of Washington um Medical Center. Yeah, we had no no issues with the pregnancy at all. It was We had his mom Richard's mom come up from Arizona and she was here for about a week and she took care of cleaning and cooking and she brought up groceries and she was very supportive in that way and I was really grateful for that. After about two I think it was three months, that was just too much for me. It was I was, you know, I was constantly afraid of like rolling over on top of him. Um, so we sleep trained him and he took to it immediately. And for the last month and a half, I would say, probably closer to just a month, he's been sleeping in his own crib and sleeping 10 hours a night. >> Any frustrations? >> Before we before we started sleep training where he would just wake up every hour during the night and that's kind of where I was like I need to transition to sleep training now. We gave him 4 oz every 2 hours. He eats every He basically has been eating every 2 hours since he's born. So, it's been a consistent 2 hours is when he eats. And, um, we up it, you know, every once in a while like tested and I'll give him like 3 oz and if he's good with that, then we keep trying it. >> How How did that appointment go with your son's PCP? >> Um, it was stressful. Um, we we had, um, talked to him about it and then he asked about the bruising on his cheek and, um, a week prior a little a little like plastic toy and he'd whack himself in the face with it and I was like, "Okay, well, we can't have you have that anymore." So, we took the toy away, and we just didn't think anything of it. It was just a little bruise. He didn't seem He fussed a little bit after he was hit, but um he he could do He had a happy, smiley boy the rest of the day, so we didn't think anything of it. You have to I don't know. He's like any child with bruising has to be sent to Mary Bridge. So, we're like, "Okay." Um he didn't really specify what for. He just said that any sort of bleeding He said it could be just bleeding or anything like that. I was like, "Okay." So, Richard and I had made the decision to just go to St. Anthony's, which was closer. >> Who Who wanted to go to St. Anthony's? >> Um Richard. >> Um did the doctors notify you of why law enforcement and CPS were called? >> I think it's understandable, yeah. >> Okay. Why Why would it be understandable? >> Um you know, in in in in I would assume that in children's cases, it's it's not taken lightly. I didn't really think it was going to escalate to this point. I didn't I mean, to all for all I knew, it was just it was just a bruise. >> Mhm. >> Oh, it looked like to me that it was. He didn't seem to have any other issues besides the fact that he just wasn't up to his weight of what the pediatrician wanted. >> Did the doctors tell you uh uh what else there is besides the bruise? >> Um they told me about his rib ribs. I I wish that I I knew why. I I don't know, and it's it's heartbreaking to hear that your son has and especially a 5-month-old has rib ribs. >> Mhm. >> I I mean, holding him, I didn't feel like there was anything. I never noticed anything. There was one moment that I I can recall where he was sleeping on Richard, and Richard passed out on the bed, and he had fallen. >> He was sleeping on Richard where at? >> On the bed in our bedroom. >> Okay. What kind of floors do you guys have? >> Um carpet. >> Okay. Uh how did he land? >> Um Richard said he landed face down. I was asleep next to him and I didn't hear him until he had already like picked him up, so I was half awake. >> I'm not a medical professional. This was explained to me by medical professionals. Um, and they can explain the same thing to you, is that we have our sternum right here in our chest and our ribs come around and they wrap around all the way in the back. >> Mhm. >> Okay, like this. All right? And [snorts] so you have your sternum here and your ribs come around like this, okay? If I was to give you CPR, right? Compression straight up and down, um, and it was intense, there's possibilities of anterior ribs ribs happening. The reason that I'm here is that posterior rib fractures in infants are specifically consistent with a squeezing motion. Because if someone was having CPR or someone jumped on your chest, something like that, your ribs break in the front. It would have to take pressure from the back to break those ribs. That being said, something, someone, a high impact event had to have caused this. And my job is to figure out how this happened. Is it an accident? Falling off the bed, kids fall, accidents happen. I have kids. I twins. There are times where I I get frustrated, you know, with the twins when they're infants and and it's like, oh my gosh, just stop crying, you know? It's it's one of those things with the lack of sleep that that accidents or something someone may not have wanted to happen, uh, did something that happened. Could be an accident. Could be something like that. Going forward, um, all all I ask is honesty. Um, I'm not going to play games with you. I I don't play hide the ball. I don't I don't play the uh uh, I I don't I don't keep secrets or anything like that. Has Richard told you anything that could that could have caused these injuries? >> We We just talked about it back and forth about situations. Um >> You guys been in any like severe car accidents or anything? >> No. We just have the one vehicle. And I haven't been in a The only accident I've been in that was like 4 years ago when a deer jumped in front of my car, but that's not related. >> Okay. Cuz that that's the kind of force that I'm looking for. Laying down on a pillow and falling on the carpet isn't It's not consistent with posterior rib injuries. Uh I'm trying to find out what happened. So, and and that's not me accusing anybody. >> I All I All I do as far as my job is I'm an information gatherer. So, something something happened. I put together the pieces of how it happened and why it happened. Accidents happen. Uh emotions happen. I think You You told me that you saw him hit himself in the head with the Elmo toy the plastic Elmo toy. >> he likes to Yeah, and he swung it up and it hit him in the face. >> When was that? >> A week ago. I have like I took a picture of it on like the 15th of May. That's when I noticed that there was bruising. >> Okay. >> So, it I think it was like the next day or something like that. It was popped up. >> Yeah, being transparent with you, I find You saw it that one time and then you took the Elmo toy away. We have here, we have here, and we have here. So, that's three separate occurrences. >> I just noticed the one. I mean, I noticed the little one right here. I just I don't know how he got that. I mean, he might have He does like to stand in the car seat, so he could have like hit him his head on that and the little like carrier thing. He does stand up and I have noticed him bump his head up two time or two, but I didn't like I wouldn't notice the >> Yeah, yeah, you would think that something a little more impactful would cause a bruise. My main goal is to figure out how how a 5-month-old infant gets several rib fractures. One of the nurses overheard you guys talking and he was saying something about it happened so fast. >> Yeah, that was the him falling asleep. Him falling asleep so fast that he didn't realize it was He was asleep and then all of a sudden he was on the floor and then it was just >> I'm going to talk to Richard after you and I I hope that somebody today gives me a reason as to why this happened. This is going to be hard to hear. So, brace yourself. This is This is standard as far as investigation goes. These injuries are consistent with child That being said, I I I have to have the kid in protective custody with CPS. And that that isn't a like that's that that's just standard as far as this goes. I don't I don't have I don't have a legitimate reason as to why this could have happened. We're waiting for CPS to come in for their day shift, which they said they'd be on at 8:00 and then throughout this investigation, there's a baby who has rib fractures. I need to make sure this baby isn't getting rib fractures and isn't getting hurt. I know that's hard to hear. That being said, I'm I'm positive there's going to be more tests, there's going to be more x-rays, there's going to be more all sorts of stuff and CPS will will communicate with you. I'm not going to be playing any games with you and neither is CPS. That's not That's not how we roll. We just try to paint a picture of how things happened. >> I wouldn't hurt him. He's not my I don't want to hurt him. It's not It's not see any reason why I would hurt him. I understand frustration. I understand it can get frustrating. It's but it just it didn't ever seem like it just that bad. >> Yeah, and this isn't this isn't accusatory. This is just consistencies with these injuries. >> I I picked him up by his ribs and I understand like looking at him like why did you Maybe maybe I did maybe I did do it. I just I don't know if I did because I just I don't remember Reggie and I don't remember him being increasingly aggressive or angry or sound like he's in pain. >> Any any time in the past few weeks where like he had like a really bad night like he was like crying profusely like out of nowhere? >> He's been sleeping really good the last 3 weeks. I I don't I don't ever find Richard being violent. >> I want you to get the time to to think about this and come to reality with this. Get some sleep. Get some good water in you. Get some good food in you and I I hope that we can all work as a team to figure out why someone so innocent was subjected to this. >> I really do want to say it's me. I might have or I have I just It's not that it was just so much frustrating as it was just I just wanted him to sleep. I just wanted him to get what he needed and he just kept screaming at me and I I I could see myself picking him up and then I don't want to think that I'm capable of that because I'm not but frustration's hard. I'd never think myself capable of something like that but I just love my kid too damn much. >> Is there a possibility that he was squeezed harder than you thought out of frustration? >> It's possible. They would watch all these cops and all this stuff and watch all these parents and >> Um I feel like you want to talk to me. I feel like you want to be honest with me. I do. >> I I [clears throat] don't I I respect cops so much. I've done nothing wrong in my life and I just it's ridiculous. I always tell everybody it's ridiculous that people like cops. I don't I don't get why people do that. It just It just comes back 10 times worse. It just >> To get further into this, where we're going, I'm I'm not detaining you. I'm not arresting you or anything, but I do want to read you your rights. You're okay with that? Okay. Having these rights read to you, do you wish to talk to me now? >> Yes. >> When's the last time you did it? >> January. The time that he got sick and I was probably in January. Mhm. I just he was really much stopped crying and picked him up and said, "Come on, please stop crying." And I had him by his sides and I applied pressure. He calmed down immediately and walked away and gave myself 10 minutes. I don't think I've ever done it more than once. >> So, that was at the end of January? Is that the only time you can remember doing that? >> That's the only time. Any other time it's it's been really really good. But then he was crying so much and I I feel like I get really I don't know what to do and I just put him down. >> You reflect him out of frustration? >> What do you mean? >> Mhm. >> I don't know what that is. >> Okay. >> I believe that popping him on the forehead is yeah. >> How often would you say you do that? >> Maybe once or twice. >> Does it feel like uncontrollable? >> I think I can I can feel like I can reach that point of just like I don't know what to do or I don't I never want to hurt him. I don't I don't want to hurt him. It's not >> What about the bopping on the head though? >> I did it once because he was he screamed. He screamed at me and then I said, "Stop." And I bopped him. It was just a tap. >> When would you say that was? >> I mean, that was when he was like 2 months old. He He had been crying for 30 minutes straight and I just wailed. >> I I want to I want to remind you that you're human, I'm human, we all make mistakes. We do it it is natural for us to do things out of emotion and then a day later you think to yourself, "What the Who the hell was that?" I don't have uh baby doll or anything like that. Can you demonstrate your actions when you squeeze them? Like picture Paint a picture for me. What's the whole scenario? >> I was I was I was I was cradling him. I was We do a lot of bouncing and cuz he likes to bounce and I know that kind of calmed him a little bit, so I did that and then he just wouldn't stop, so I'm like, "Okay." And then I like stopped screaming. I'm like, "Why are you screaming?" And and then I was like, "What are you doing?" Like, "You can't squeeze your You can't squeeze like that." And so I put him down. I was It was that. So >> So you told yourself, "You can't squeeze your kid like that." You realized that it was too much? >> No, wait. It It didn't In my head it was It It In my head it wasn't too much. It was just It could get more. Like you Like you could you could hurt the kid. He's small. He's fragile. He's you know he's You're you're bigger than him. You're capable of hurting him, you know. Not that I want to hurt him. It's just you know any human could. >> Hang out in here. I'll be right back, okay? I brought a baby doll. It does have vomit on it. Um so you know, uh do with it what you may, but I was just hoping you'd give me Try to think back I know you're probably tired as hell at this point when this happened. Um try to think back about the room you're in, the emotions, um, how you're feeling, and then your reaction to how you felt uh when you realized what you did. Um, can you demonstrate that for me? >> I started off, I think um he was laying there with my little sleep in there by himself. He was crying a lot. I've been with him all day. He was crying, and I picked him up, and I said, "Hey, I know I know it's a lot." And he just kept crying and crying, and I'm shushing him, and I'm holding him, and I'm rocking him back and forth, and I'm trying to pacify him. And I tried the bouncing thing. And then I think I went like, "I don't like this. I didn't shake him. Why won't you stop crying?" And then I was like, "No, you don't." Just I mean I laid him in his crib, and I walked away. >> Do you think you squeezed him harder than you just squeezed that doll? >> I really don't think I did. I I think I I remember going like that, and I remember applying force, but not squeezing. I I didn't squeeze. That wasn't And I know for a fact I didn't squeeze like that. I know I And I And I I remember my hands firmly on him, but I did not squeeze. >> You just told me 10 minutes ago you did. >> Like I did not like But I did hold him. >> Well, you told me in prior was you could have squeezed harder. That's what you said. >> I I I I squeezed like that, and I could have gone like that if if if I had gotten to that point that I I held him so I I held him, and I and I I could feel my hands on him. I could feel like there was force, >> All right. >> but I didn't squeeze him. Like I would you would like an orange. Like I would I didn't apply that much force. >> Are there any uh dates important to you in late January, early February that you relate it to you? >> Yeah, my I had my onboarding for my new job on January 30th. >> Okay. >> Cuz I had I was supposed to start on Monday, so he was sick that weekend. So it was I think it was right around there. I think it was about right before my onboarding or it was right after I I I remember he but he was sick that weekend. >> So the only care providers for are you and Richard. >> Yeah, we had um his my dad and um his wife they babysat a couple times, not overnight, but just a couple times. >> So the injuries would have had to occur between either you or Richard. Any thoughts on Richard doing doing anything? Do you think there's a combination? Do you think it's just the squeezing? Do you think Did he get frustrated, too? >> I think the only time I saw him really frustrated it was when we had started sleep training and he couldn't stand the thought of him like crying and screaming, but he just left the room and he slept on the couch I think the rest of the night. >> Yeah. Th- This is one of those instances where the most common person is capable of doing something like this, right? Like you think uh you you can read studies on how uh Oh, excuse me. leads to that, you know, um speeding leads to vehicle accidents. Like there's a pattern, you know? But this is one of those things where it's like the most normal person lack of sleep, uh lack of energy constant crying, and it's just like um there's just that line, you know? And the most common person crosses that line. And it and it just uh the the lack of sleep can can just get to you. >> I mean I I thought about it, you know, I thought about postpartum, I thought about, you know, is it you know, is there something wrong with me? I have asked myself that, like, you know, is it you know, this and I called my mom and she said, "No, it's normal." I mean, you know, sleep is very important to people. >> Is you have no idea. >> I love sleep. >> Right. >> [laughter] >> Right. >> And then pregnancy, that was like the probably the only thing that I would just like I wish that was just easier. >> Do you think Richard is going to Have you told Richard about the squeezing incident? >> I think I had said that like I had picked him up. I don't think I've ever explained what happened to him, so I don't really think he'll understand or >> Is it Is it's like one of those things that like you don't even want to admit happened? Like that's not me. >> Yeah. >> You know? >> I just, you know, he he's fine. I'm fine. >> Is it's hard It's hard to admit. Would you say it was too It was too far? >> Yeah, I'd say it was a little too far. I'd say that that that wasn't like me and the fact that I did that was just I felt so bad after, even though I I I felt like it was just in the moment type thing. I just I questioned myself and I said, "Am I even a good parent? Do I deserve this kind of crap? Like is this Is this normal? I mean, I I I questioned myself and and it's not I don't I don't want to I don't want to be I've never been violent. I don't want to be violent. It's just I don't and I hate to think that I'm capable of things like that. >> Today is March 13th. It is 0641. I am with Richard. Uh we are at Mary Bridge Hospital, Tacoma, Washington. You guys talk about each other about frustrations? >> Like if we're being if we're getting frustrated or Yeah, so we have also done pretty well in trying to make sure that if one of us We've never been frustrated at the same time. It's always been more of if uh she's getting frustrated, I'm like, "Here, give me him. Go walk go for a walk. Go do what you need to do. Take a shower, anything." Where we we've been really good on kind of get on top of that cuz we know that postpartum is a very It's hard thing to control. >> Anybody else watch kids? >> Nobody is uh nobody's allowed to watch him. >> Okay. >> She her dad will come over and hang out, but I don't let anybody watch him by themselves anymore. >> Any any reason for the bruising on that what did you tell the doctor is what anything else you can think of? >> He has a little Elmo teething toy that we took away now and he's in the phase of just kicking and him moving his hands a lot. So, when he had it he was teething on it and we were sitting there and I watched him hit himself once and that's it. I don't know if that's when the bruise happened. I just know that's when I took the toy away. >> Okay. >> Because I noticed I knew that was just it's not going to be smart if he's going to keep smacking himself with it. So, we switched him to a lighter like to this toast right here and then I just a little rattle. From what I've heard they said that it looks like he has ribs that are he mostly healed. >> Okay. >> That's what that's what I've been told as far as like tonight. Never never been hurt. He's never No one's ever touched him. He's always been just a very happy child. >> Okay. Anything you can think of that can explain fractured ribs? Not in definitely not >> No. >> Nothing that would be in my mind nothing with enough force that would fracture his ribs. No. >> He has healing posterior fractured ribs. There has to be a pressure from the front and pressure compressing from the back for those to happen. It's a very specific injury. Like if you're holding a baby and he gets squeezed. Posterior rib fractures are a high concern for child I'm trying to give you and Taylor every opportunity to recount your memory of an accident of of anything that possibly could have happened. >> We've only ever had one little mess up and it was nothing that in my mind was even serious cuz he didn't even cry from it. I was sleeping with him and he slid off of me, but that was about a foot and a half, but he just I picked him up. He was just fine. I gave him to Taylor and I cried myself for about an hour and a half cuz I felt really bad, but he didn't cry during that. He just got I just like picked him back up and gave him right to Taylor, but I I just don't feel like that would be enough force and especially landing on his on his stomach wouldn't be enough force. >> Has Taylor ever told you about an experience where he wailed at her or she he she was really frustrated with something that he did? >> She's told me she's had moments where he's like pushed her to the limit, but she just puts him down and then she just walks away and that's what and that's the way she deals with it. >> I mean you're under arrest. You're reminded you don't have to talk to me now. >> Yes. >> Okay. Have you ever hugged him hard out of frustration? >> Out of frustration, no. >> Has Taylor ever admitted to you that she squeezed him? >> No. >> You're under arrest. On the charge of assault. I'm going to use the back of my hands to check your front pockets. They're okay. Anything in your bra? Have you ever been to jail before? So how it works is I'll transport you to get you booked into jail where you'll be booked in. >> Uh how long is she being held for and all that? >> I was explaining to you her just as you walked in. Sorry to interrupt you, but she's going to go down um get booked into the jail and then she'll see a judge probably today. Court is at 9:00 a.m. So you'll probably be able to see one today and then uh they are the ultimate ones who will hear what happened to you whether you're staying on with with bail or whether you get let out on your own. It all depends from that point, okay? >> That's good. >> The woman was arrested and charged with assault in the second degree.