A local man was arrested late Sunday on a felony warrant stemming from allegations he severely injured his 2-month-old son earlier this year.
Christian Alexander Bice, 23, who lists a Bayside Road address, was taken into custody at 9 p.m. and charged with first-degree domestic battery, punishable by up to 30 years in prison. He was released Monday afternoon on $10,000 bond and is set to appear May 23 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, on Jan. 9, Hot Springs police Detective Kenny May was notified about a 2-month-old boy being treated for a reportedly fresh fracture on his right arm at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, after being transferred there from CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs.
Upon further examination, the staff at Children's discovered the victim had healing fractures on his left leg and four of his ribs. They reported the injuries appeared to be "nonaccidental and were indicative of maltreatment."
That same day, May and Charles Anderson, an investigator with the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division, interviewed all the adults living in the victim's home.
The victim's mother reported she was at work most of the previous day, and had left her son in the care of his father, identified as Bice. She said when she returned home, the victim and his father were allegedly alone in the bedroom with the door shut. Not long after she arrived home, she said she heard the child "scream bloody murder."
She said she ran into the room and retrieved the victim from his child safety seat. As she removed him from the seat, she noticed immediately that his arm was hanging limp. She said Bice appeared to be asleep on the bed right next to the victim. She took her son to St. Vincent, where he was subsequently transported to Children's.
Bice's roommate told police he was present in the apartment with Bice and the victim all day. He told police that he and Bice took the victim to the hospital earlier that day "due to him being fussy," but the victim's arm appeared normal at that time. Records from the initial hospital visit reportedly confirmed the victim showed no signs of injury.
After they returned to the apartment, the roommate said Bice took his son into his bedroom and shut the door around 10:30 p.m. Roughly two hours later, he and the victim's mother heard the child scream "very loudly" from behind the closed door. He said the mother ran into the bedroom, grabbed the victim and took him to the hospital.
Bice's parents told police they had been in and out of the apartment all day and had contact with the victim, noting his arm seemed fine. Bice's father said he last had contact with the victim around 7 p.m. that night and he was "his normal self." The parents said they were asleep in another bedroom at the residence when the victim's screams woke them up.
When questioned, Bice said the victim was "fussy" for most of the day on Jan. 8. He said he and his roommate took him to St. Vincent that evening, when they performed a nasal swab and chest X-ray and sent him home. He said after returning home, he changed the victim and noted his arm appeared normal. He said he took him into the bedroom and they both went to sleep, with Bice sleeping on the bed and the victim in his child safety seat beside the bed.
Despite the victim's screams waking up Bice's parents in the other room, Bice said he never heard his son and didn't learn something was wrong with his arm until the victim's mother woke him and asked him what happened.
The affidavit notes the medical records from the victim's second visit to St. Vincent indicated an unspecified fracture on his right humerus and that child abuse was suspected. The exam revealed joint swelling, tenderness, deformity and signs of injury.
With the exception of the victim's mother driving him to the hospital, no other adult at that residence, besides Bice, had one-on-one time with the victim between the first and second hospital exams. Bice was also alone with the victim when all the other adults in the residence heard him scream.
Bice's criminal history reflects a prior conviction of domestic abuse within the past five years, including a conviction on Sept. 8, 2016, in Guthrie, Okla., for domestic abuse in the presence of a minor, with an enhancing factor of child domestic abuse.
Local on 05/16/2017