Woman charged with murder in baby’s death
BARTLESVILLE — Prosecutors in Washington County charged a woman in late December on allegations she inflicted injuries to an infant that resulted in the child’s death.
Tracy Dawn Nelson, 43, was charged with firstdegree murder, according to court records. Nelson allegedly inflicted the fatal injuries to a 7-weekold infant in her care.
Nelson’s spouse had left the infant with Nelson around June 15 while running errands, Bartlesville Police Investigator Daniel Elkins states in an affidavit. During that time, the infant sustained “blunt force trauma to the head,” according to the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Medical examiners classified the child’s death as a homicide.
The trauma caused a brain bleed, brain swelling and optic nerve damage. Investigators state in the affidavit that the swelling “leaked down the victim’s spinal cord.”
Nelson’s spouse returned from errands that day, finding the child unresponsive. She administered CPR. Nelson denied causing any injuries.
“(Nelson) stated that the victim was crying excessively and that she laid the victim down with a bottle and later found the victim unresponsive,” Elkins states in the affidavit.
Nelson reportedly had little tolerance for children crying. Her spouse told investigators that Nelson had shoved socks in children’s mouths to muffle crying noises and would pinch their throats “to make kids stop crying,” according to the affidavit.
Nelson’s spouse told investigators that Nelson was “known to be aggressive and short-tempered with children.” Nelson allegedly threw children to her spouse out of frustration.
Bartlesville police arrested Nelson during the New Year’s Eve weekend, after the murder charge was filed on Dec. 29. She is being held in Washington County jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond.
Her initial court appearance has not yet been scheduled, according to online records.
In a separate case filed in July 2017, prosecutors allege Nelson broke a child’s arm in March 2015 by grabbing and twisting the child’s arm, according to court documents. That child, at the time, was about 4 months old.
Nelson is charged with child abuse in that case. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 30.