Trial date set for dad accused of assaulting infant

Tykee Copeland, 34, charged following alleged 2016 incident with baby’s mom

A 34-yearold Souderton man accused of assaulting and seriously injuring his infant daughter last year during an altercation with the baby’s mother, according to police, will stand trial in the case on June 14, court records show.

Tykee Copeland, of the 100 block of East Broad Street — who is free on $25,000 bail, records indicate — has been charged with three counts of felony aggravated assault and several other charges in connection with the alleged incident on April 25, 2016, involving his then-4month-old daughter.

Authorities have said in charging documents that Copeland’s arrest came following an investigation into the incident after his daughter was taken to an area emergency room with severe head trauma by the child’s mother, 30-year-old Amanda Keller, who initially told hospital staff that the baby had accidentally been hit in the head by a cellphone thrown by her then-10-year-old son.

Medical personnel observed swelling and an abrasion on the infant’s head, and doctors soon discovered the baby had severe brain bleeding that was not consistent with Keller’s account of how the child was injured, according to an affidavit of probable cause; the baby was immediately transported by ambulance to a trauma center for further treatment.

Physicians told authori-

ties that the baby had suffered brain bleeding and a concussion and characterized the injuries as “abusive head trauma caused by violent adult force,” and that the infant “suffered permanent injury due to a lack of blood flow and/or oxygen to her brain,” adding that victims of abusive head trauma “have longterm physical, cognitive, developmental and behavioral health consequences,” court documents state.

During the ensuing investigation conducted by Souderton police and Montgomery County detectives, Copeland provided a written statement to law enforcement claiming that he and Keller had gotten into an argument over text messages that she had found on his cellphone, and that during the verbal altercation, he threw the phone against the ceiling, shattering it, according to the affidavit.

Copeland told police that after Keller told him she thought the broken phone had struck the infant, they decided approximately 20 minutes later to bring the baby to the hospital, documents state.

Further into the investigation, however, Keller told police she hadn’t been truthful in what she’d said to hospital personnel regarding the incident, admitting that during her argument with Copeland about the text messages, Copeland had come up behind her while she was holding the baby and pushed her into a wall, with the baby’s head hitting the wall “with full force” as a result of the shove, according to the affidavit.

Keller said that Copeland then threw his phone, which bounced off a wall and hit the baby on the head, the affidavit states.

Keller told police that after seeing that her baby appeared to be unconscious, she told Copeland they needed to go to the hospital, but that Copeland grabbed her by the hair and told her, “She’s fine, we don’t have to take her to the hospital,” court documents indicate.

But when Keller told Copeland she was going to call 911 if he didn’t let her bring the baby to the hospital, he

finally acquiesced, though he warned her not to tell anyone that he had caused the injury, according to the affidavit.

Keller faces trial on second-degree misdemeanor counts of unsworn falsification to authorities and conspiracy. Court records indicate that in April she was denied admittance to a Montgomery County diversionary program.