Inset: Jesse A. Sartin (Dearborn Prosecutor’s Office). Background: Sartin being escorted into court on Aug. 5 (WXIX).
A 25-year-old Indiana man faces multiple decades in prison for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s 21-month-old daughter by shaking her so violently that doctors said it caused her brain to herniate and leak “through her ears.”
Authorities announced that Jesse A. Sartin was taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count of murder and one count of aggravated battery in the little girl’s death.
According to a news release from the Dearborn County Prosecutor’s Office, officers from the Lawrenceburg Police Department responded to a call from St. Elizabeth Hospital Dearborn on July 24, 2024, about a 21-month-old girl with a “suspicious” head injury.
When the child arrived at the hospital, it was initially reported that she had been “injured in an accident.” Sartin told medical staff that the toddler had been standing on an ottoman when the couple’s dog knocked her over, causing her to fall to the ground, reported Cincinnati CBS and CW affiliate WKRC.
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Due to the severity of her injuries, the child was transported about 30 miles east to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital for specialized treatment. There, she underwent emergency brain surgery to relieve the pressure caused by severe brain swelling.
Doctors said the child’s brain was so swollen that it herniated and was “leaking through her ears,” reported The Kansas City Star. The little girl succumbed to her injuries on Thursday, Aug. 1, and was pronounced dead.
“The 21-month-old child was under Sartin’s care while her mother was at work,” prosecutors said. “Following an investigation, it was determined that Sartin allegedly shook the little girl for about 20 seconds.”
According to a report from Cincinnati NBC affiliate WLWT, Sartin admitted in an interview with police that he became frustrated with the toddler while giving her a bath, claiming she was “being aggressive and flailing her arms” because she didn’t want to get out of the tub. In response, Sartin allegedly said he “shook her for about 20 seconds.”
Sartin made his initial appearance before Dearborn County Circuit Court Judge F. Aaron Negangard on Monday afternoon.
Dearborn County Detective Jeremy Shepherd testified at Monday’s hearing, reading from a letter authorities say Sartin wrote to his girlfriend after killing her child, according to courtroom footage provided by Newport, Kentucky, Fox affiliate WXIX.
“Once the bubbles were gone, I drained the water and put her toys away,” the letter allegedly states. “I tried to pull her out, but she didn’t want to get out. Screaming and swinging her arms. I tried to pull her out, but she kept pulling away, and I was getting upset. Baby, I’m so upset. I shook her trying to get her to calm down.”
An autopsy reportedly confirmed that the victim’s manner of death was a homicide and the cause of death was “swelling to the brain, significant hemorrhages in both eyes, and hemorrhaging in the spinal cord” consistent with being violently shaken for a significant period.
Records show that Sartin is currently being held in the Dearborn County Jail without bond.
