A 30-year-old Louisville mother is facing felony charges after her infant suffered multiple brain bleeds and required lifesaving surgery, with the baby having stopped breathing before arriving at the hospital. Marisela Hernandez Rios admitted to shaking the baby on two separate occasions, according to Louisville Metro Police, who described the infant's injuries as near fatal.
According to WLKY, doctors treating the baby at Norton Children's Hospital found bleeding in the retinas of both eyes, bruising on the baby's hips, and scabbing behind both ears, in addition to the multiple brain bleeds. Hernandez Rios told hospital staff the baby had been lying on a Boppy pillow, a U-shaped pillow often used when nursing a child, before doctors ordered an MRI that showed the infant needed emergency surgery due to the severity of the injuries. Hernandez Rios said that when she turned around, she found the baby was not breathing and had gone limp.
Court records reviewed by WHAS11 show that Child Protective Services alerted the Louisville Metro Police Department's Office of Sexual and Physical Abuse after the infant arrived at Norton Children's Hospital with severe physical injuries.
Charges Carry Decades of Potential Prison Time
Hernandez Rios faces assault and criminal neglect and abuse charges tied to the incident. First-Degree Assault under Kentucky Revised Statute 508.010 is a Class B felony carrying a penalty of 10 to 20 years in prison and fines up to $10,000 when a person wantonly engages in conduct creating a grave risk of death and causes serious physical injury under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to human life, according to CIR Legal.
A second charge, First-Degree Criminal Abuse under Kentucky Revised Statute 508.100, is classified as a Class C felony, per the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. Both convictions fall under Kentucky's violent offender statute, KRS 439.3401, which requires defendants to serve a higher percentage of their sentence before becoming eligible for parole, according to FindLaw.
Hernandez Rios appeared in court in Louisville on Friday, where a judge set her bond at $250,000. She is due back in court in October.
Mandatory Reporting Law Prompted the Investigation
Kentucky Revised Statute 620.030 mandates that any person who knows or has reasonable cause to believe a child is abused or neglected must immediately report it to social services or local law enforcement, with intentional failures to report subject to criminal penalties, according to the Kentucky Legislative Research Commission. That universal mandatory reporting requirement compelled hospital staff to notify authorities once the baby's injuries were documented.
Norton Children's Hospital operates Pediatric Protection Specialists, described by Norton Children's as the only child protection program serving all 120 counties in the Commonwealth, to evaluate, diagnose, and document suspected child abuse victims. Board-certified child abuse pediatricians on that team evaluate physical injuries and consult with law enforcement.
Abusive Head Trauma Poses Risks to Infants
The case unfolds against a backdrop of troubling statewide numbers. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Child Maltreatment 2024 report, released this year, recorded Kentucky's child maltreatment rate at 14.1 victims per 1,000 children — nearly double the national average of 7.2 per 1,000 — ranking Kentucky fifth highest among all U.S. states, per Norton Children's.
Abusive head trauma is the leading cause of death and severe disability from brain injury in infants under one year old, frequently resulting in subdural hemorrhages and retinal bleeding caused by violent shaking or impact, according to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
Following House Bill 285, Norton Children's Pediatric Protection Specialists created core content for statewide training modules on recognizing pediatric abusive head trauma, according to Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services records. The case echoes another recent Louisville-area matter, in which a Lyndon mother faced felony child abuse charges after five children were found in a squalid apartment earlier this month.
