Phoenix father faces child abuse charge after baby found with skull fractures, broken ribs

PHOENIX (3TV/CBS 5) -- Phoenix police say a man is facing child abuse charges after they found a severely injured baby boy at a home over the weekend.

According to court documents, officers responded to a trailer near 31st Avenue and Interstate 10 on Saturday, where they found a 2-month-old boy unresponsive with a head injury. Paramedics rushed the infant to the hospital, where doctors say he suffered three skull fractures and injuries to his left and right ribs. Bruising was also visible across his stomach, court paperwork noted.

Investigators say that the boy’s mother noticed a bruise on his head and that he was limp. She told detectives that the boy’s father, identified as Nino-Cota Martin, said he didn’t know what happened to the child despite spending all day with him, adding that he had “been like that for a while,” court documents stated.

The mother continued to tell officers that Martin is known to have a bad temper, often drinks alcohol and uses cocaine. Detectives also interviewed the grandmother, who heard crying throughout the day, and said that when she tried to enter the room to check on the baby, Martin assaulted her.

Court paperwork also reveals that during an interview with detectives, Martin admitted that the baby fell off the bed, hitting himself on a car seat and the ground after he pulled the bed covers. Martin told detectives that he forgot the boy was still on the bed.

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