Mother charged with breaking infant’s ribs
A 22-year-old LincolnLemington woman is facing five felonies after police believe she broke her 2month-old daughter’s ribs over a period of weeks.
Pittsburgh police believe Adrienne Hughes broke her baby’s ribs by holding her “incorrectly,” putting one arm on the baby’s back and tightly pressing the infant against her waist while the infant kicked and screamed.
The woman denied dropping or intentionally harming her infant, but said she may have accidentally hurt the baby and not realized it, because the infant “screams like someone is killing her [even] when she gets her diaper changed,” according to a criminal complaint.
Doctors told police, however, that the baby could not have suffered her injuries without someone knowing, according to a criminal complaint.
The infant, identified as Jane Doe in court records, was brought to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC in September and October because of trouble breathing, and doctors noted she had three broken ribs and three additional partially healed broken ribs.
After speaking with Pittsburgh police, Ms. Hughes sent investigators two videos that she said “proved” the baby cried without reason and “proved” the infant could hold up her own head without help.
In one video, an adult holds the baby without stabilizing her head, according to police, and in the second video, the infant screams while an adult uses a bulb syringe to clear the infant’s nose.
Ms. Hughes faces two counts of aggravated assault, two counts of aggravated assault on a victim younger than 6, and one count of endangering the welfare of children.
She is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing in City Court, Downtown, on Dec. 15.