Gulfport, Miss. – District Attorney W. Crosby Parker announced that Brandon L. Battersby of Long Beach, MS, entered a guilty plea earlier this week to Aggravated Assault and Felony Child Neglect.
He was sentenced to serve the maximum 25 years in prison by Circuit Court Judge Lisa Dodson.
The case began the morning of July 30, 2020 when the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office responded to Magic River Campground on Tucker Road in Long Beach, MS in reference to a medical emergency. Upon arrival, the Harrison County Sheriff’s made contact with a three-month old infant, one parent, and his sibling.
The injured infant was immediately air-lifted to USA Health University Hospital, then transferred to USA Health Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile, Alabama. The child’s family had initially disclosed that the baby’s injuries were the result of the baby falling from a table.
However, the Harrison County Sheriff’s Office was able to prove that the infant’s injuries were not the result of an accidental fall or other independent movement on the part of the infant.
Assistant District Attorney Haley Broom, who prosecuted the case, advised the Court that “the medical experts have opined that the injuries were the result of non-accidental trauma to the head.”
At the plea hearing, Brandon Battersby showed no remorse, but admitted for the first time that he started drinking the morning before and had shaken the infant. He further admitted that he failed to call for medical help after these events.
Prior to imposing the sentence Judge Dodson commented on Battersby’ s complete lack of remorse and stated “there’s a special place for you in the afterlife” and “what you’ve done to this child is unforgivable.”
Judge Dodson sentenced Battersby to the maximum 20 years for the aggravated assault and the maximum 5 years for felony child neglect. Judge Dodson ordered that those sentences to run consecutive for a total of 25 years in prison. The infant’s mother previously pled to Felony Child Neglect and Hindering Prosecution of a Felon, and sentencing is pending.