WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Va. - An 11-month-old baby girl was left in critical condition after she was shaken, according to Westmoreland County Sheriff's investigators. Deputies responded to a home on Salisbury Park Rd. around 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 10 for an unresponsive child. They were told the child was not breathing because she had fallen off a bed.
However, Westmoreland County Commonwealth's Attorney said investigators believed the baby's injuries were not accidental. Lewis Kelly was soon charged with aggravated malicious wounding and felony child neglect.
The Commonwealth's Attorney said it appeared to be a case of shaken baby and that the child was left with permanent brain damage.
Neighbor Dorothy Brooks said she has never seen Kelly before, but was shocked by the crime he was accused of committing.
"It's beyond anything that you can believe, that someone would shake a baby and do that much damage," Brooks said.
One Kelly's family members said he is the boyfriend of the baby's mother. She called her cousin a kind-hearted man and said there had to be more to the story because he would not do something like this. She said he cared for the child as if she were his own, ever since she was born.
Kelly remains behind bars. His next court appearance is November 5.
