OCALA, Fla. – A man said he “lost control” at a crying infant and squeezed her hard enough to fracture ribs on multiple occasions and yanked her arm with enough force to fracture it on another, according to the Ocala Police Department.
Authorities said the investigation began when the victim’s mother came home Monday and noticed the 6-week-old girl’s arm appeared to be broken and when she took her to a hospital, doctors there determined that she had multiple fractures in her arm and multiple rib fractures that were showing signs of healing.
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Police said they spoke to Homer Tuzo, who had been watching the child, and he at first claimed that a 2-year-old child was jumping on the bed and fell on the infant but then later admitted that he might have “blacked out” when the child was injured.
Tuzo said that other times when he’s been watching the child beginning when she was three or four weeks old, he’s “lost control” over her continuous crying, according to the affidavit.
On Jan. 17, he said the baby girl was crying in her rocker so he grabbed her by her arms, hoisted her into the air and onto his chest, likely fracturing her arms and shoulders, records show.
He said that he squeezed the victim between his forearms and chest with all of his force on three different occasions because he again “lost control," authorities said.
Tuzo is facing two counts of aggravated child abuse. He’s being held without bond.