NEVADA, Mo. — A Nevada, Missouri, woman pleads not guilty Thursday (3/20) on charges she abused her grandson — breaking 7 of his bones.
Tonya Reynolds, 49, was arraigned in Vernon County court Thursday morning on a charge of felony child abuse.
Authorities say that while her 5-month-old grandson was left in her care last weekend, she snapped one of the bones in his arm “like a pencil.”
Court records say doctors at Children’s Mercy found two broken bones in the boy’s left arm, three broken ribs, and both legs were broken below his knees.
Reynolds remains jailed on a $50,000 cash-only bond. She will be back in court next week.
The PC says the doctor told authorities the fracture on the infant’s upper left arm was a “transverse fracture,” meaning it’s a three-point bending fracture like breaking a pencil in half. The doctor also told deputies babies don’t typically get bending fractures without excessive force. He said even if the infant was “stuck in the slats of his bed; it would not have broken without excessive force.”
Court records describe the baby’s other broken bones as follows:
– the rib fracture was on the front of his chest below his heart area;
– the break on the ribs was from a squeezing or pushing break;
– the break in the lower arm and the legs were yanking/pulling breaks;
– the leg breaks were below the knee;
– the yanking and pulling breaks usually are consistent with shaking a baby.