Sacramento Brain Injury Lawyer Blog

At our Personal Injury Law Office in Sacramento, we can face the most horrific of acts carried out against an individual. I was reading the news today, when I came across one of those acts in the nearby area of Auburn, California. The story told of a case against a woman for allegedly killing a 16-month old child through shaken baby syndrome.

The accused woman, Veronica Salcedo, was babysitting three children the night of the incident. The youngest child, Hannah, is the center of the case. According to News 10, prosecutors are calling for Veronica to be tried for “second degree murder and child abuse causing death or great bodily injury”. It is their claim that Veronica shook Hannah so violently that the child ended up in the hospital on life support and died two days later.

On the opposing side, defendants state this is not what happened at all, but rather the cause of Hannah’s death was from a neurological undiagnosed illness. They state that there is evidence that the child’s brain was swelling the night before the incident. However, doctors never did the neurological testing for the illness, so there is no way of truly knowing.

Veronica did state that she shook Hannah. However, she states that it was only slightly and just to get her to come to when she found her unresponsive. Supposedly, Veronica had confessed to shaking the child harder when police first spoke to her, but has now withdrawn that on account of a language barrier (Veronica only speaks Spanish).

Shaken Baby Syndrome is child abuse. Shaken Baby Syndrome, or SBS, occurs when a child is shaken hard enough that their brain bounces inside the child’s skull, causing damage or death. This diagnosis usually will occur in children two years or younger. At this age children have weak necks, large, heavy heads, and developing brains. These characteristics put together make an instance of strong shaking very threatening to a baby’s life.

If you have a child who has been diagnosed with SBS because of someone else’s abusive behavior, please call me at the Law Offices of Moseley Collins.

To read the full news article, please click here.

For more information on Shaken Baby Syndrome, please click here.

Posted by Moseley Collins | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brain Injury

Bookmark:

I was reading the news today when I came across a story about a young girl who was a part of a car accident 10 months prior. The crash left her in a coma and in critical condition. Two other passengers of the car were killed and the driver, her boyfriend at the time, was also in critical condition. It is amazing how one moment can so incredibly alter the course of one’s life. The young girl, 19-year old Savannah Willson, now is learning to cope with life again, from a different angle.

The car crash was caused by Savannah’s boyfriend, who took part in a sudden street race on his way home from a night out. His car reached speeds of 70 mph, well over the posted 25 mph speed limit. The car lost control in midsts of the race and slammed into a tree. From that moment on, Savannah would see her life change. After a week in a coma, she awoke to find the right side of her body paralyzed. She had suffered brain damage to the left side of her brain in the accident, causing neurons to disconnect. She also was not able to swallow her saliva and doctors had to perform a tracheotomy, which left a tube in her windpipe for 90 days.

Three months after the accident Savannah was able to leave the hospital and had regained partial use the right side of her body. Savannah will continue to undergo physical therapy and rehabilitation to regain use of the right side of her body.

Savannah’s ex-boyfriend is now facing trial for two counts of vehicular manslaughter. Street racing is such a dangerous game to play, especially when others' lives are involved. The lives of loved ones, friends, and even strangers can be alter and/or lost forever.

To read the full article in the Sacramento Bee, please click here.

Posted by Moseley Collins | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brain Injury

Bookmark:

I was reading an article in the Sacramento Bee this afternoon on the amount of children that fall out of windows and injure themselves. The article states that thousands of children fall out of windows each year and are hospitalized as a result. That is incredible to me, but it does make sense. Children are so curious, especially at young ages they want to explore everything that catches their eye. An open window is an open invitation for these children to accept. In our Sacramento area alone, doctors at UC Davis hospital stated that over the course of three years, 44 children were hospitalized after falling out of a window.

The Sacramento Bee gave an example of a little girl, Taia Herring, who fell out of a second-story window just days after her third birthday. She was left alone for a moment and out the window she went. Her mom found her on the grass outside, barely conscious. She was rushed to the hospital to find out that she had suffered major brain injury and fractured her femur.

Taia’s parents were devastated, but they held fast to hope and submitted themselves to prayer every day for their daughter. And then her remarkable recovery took hold. Within two months, Taia was able to speak and left to return home. She is still learning to walk on her leg and continues with physical therapy. Her parents say that they know it is the blessing of God that Taia was saved in that fall.

If you have small children take precautions to prevent them from climbing out of windows. This could protect your child from suffering from a major brain injury or even death. Keep objects away from windows that could enable your child to get easy access to the outside. Close windows on the second story or keep close watch on your children when they are playing upstairs.

To read the full article in the Sacramento Bee, please click here.

Posted by Moseley Collins | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brain Injury

Bookmark:

A story I blogged about a couple weeks ago on a high school football player has been updated. In Southern California, a high school senior, Scotty, is still in critical condition after he collapsed on the field during one of the high school football games about two weeks ago. News reports state that he actually stumbled off the field and then slipped into a coma. He has been comatose since this incidence.

His doctor informs news sources that Scotty’s injury is due to a traumatic brain injury, very similar to what one would see from a serious car accident. Despite suspicions that the injury was due to a previous hit or accident, Scotty’s doctor says that this injury had to have happen within hours of Scotty reaching the hospital.

Doctors cannot predict how Scotty will, or even if he will, recover. At this point in time, with such a major brain injury, and with Scotty in such a deep coma, it is difficult to see signs of recovery. Over the past couple of weeks, Scotty has only slightly moved the right side of his body and cracked his eyes open once. Unfortunately, this could be due to reflexes rather than signs of improvement.

Students and parents around the area of San Marcos have formed a support group for Scotty. The team had their first game this past Friday, and the stadium, on both sides, were filled with people adorning Scotty’s football number, number 54. There were also fundraisers at the game to help pay for the extensive medical bills that Scotty’s parents will undoubtedly face.

It is such a tragedy to see someone so young go through such horrific injuries. Scotty’s football coaches have scoured videotapes of the game in which Scotty was injured, but have yet found an exact hit which caused Scotty's traumatic brain injury. Let’s pray for Scotty’s recovery and strength for his family.

To read the full article on Scotty’s traumatic brain injury, please click here.

Posted by Moseley Collins | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Brain Injury

Bookmark: