A 23-year-old Putnam County woman is facing a first-degree felony child abuse charge after deputies say an infant in her care turned up with roughly 10 suspected fractures in less than a year.
Investigators say Hunter Deeann Miller was arrested Tuesday and later released on a $50,000 bond. A judge ordered that she have no unsupervised contact with children. The child, described as under 1 year old, was taken to a St. Johns County emergency room last November and later evaluated by specialists, according to deputies.
Medical records showed about 10 potential fractures, and investigators say the injuries did not line up with Miller’s version of what happened. As reported by First Coast News, deputies reviewed home surveillance video and said there was no footage of the infant being dropped or falling, details they say undercut Miller’s account.
According to investigators, Miller claimed another person had dropped the baby on the floor of a Palm Coast home. Detectives say the video told a different story, and the person Miller initially named has since been cleared.
Sheriff's statement and the ongoing probe
Putnam County Sheriff H.D. “Gator” DeLoach criticized what he described as an attempt to shift blame. “The suspect pointed fingers at innocent people to disrupt their lives,” he told reporters, according to First Coast News.
Deputies say they are pulling together medical findings, surveillance video and witness interviews as the case moves across prosecutors’ desks. Authorities have not released any identifying information about the infant, citing privacy concerns.
How Florida law treats serious child abuse
Under Florida law, aggravated child abuse or neglect that causes great bodily harm can be charged as a first-degree felony, a category that carries some of the harshest penalties on the books if a defendant is convicted. Chapter 827 of the Florida Statutes outlines the elements of child abuse and aggravated abuse, as well as the potential punishments prosecutors can seek. The full text is available in Florida Statutes, ch. 827.
Regional context
In Northeast Florida, investigators say multiple unexplained fractures in an infant almost always trigger both criminal and child-welfare investigations. Nearby counties have already seen similar cases this year. In Nassau County, the sheriff’s office arrested two people after a five-week-old was hospitalized with multiple leg fractures, Action News Jax reported.
Investigators say medical teams typically rely on imaging, family history and any available video to sort out whether injuries were accidental or non-accidental.
For now, prosecutors in Putnam County are reviewing Miller’s case and will decide whether to file additional charges. As of Wednesday, it was still unclear when she would next appear in court.
