By Cindi Lash and Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
After a night of drinking, Chytoria Lata Graham returned home early Sunday and quarreled with her live-in boyfriend, Deangelo Troop, she told police.
Pushing led to shoving and throwing things before she "snapped,'' the Erie woman told police. She grabbed the couple's month-old son and swung him through the air by the legs, using the blanket-swaddled infant as a weapon to strike her boyfriend.
Mr. Troop punched her back, prompting her to leave her apartment and call 911, she told police. When officers arrived, they found the baby, Jarron Troop, suffering from severe head injuries, and arrested Ms. Graham for causing them.
Ms. Graham, 27, remained in the Erie County Jail yesterday, unable to post $75,000 bond on charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and simple assault. Erie police said her baby, who was born Sept. 11, was taken first to an Erie hospital and later flown by medical helicopter to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.
Hospital officials would not release information about the baby yesterday. Police, at different times yesterday, said he was in critical condition and in serious but stable condition.
Erie County District Attorney Bradley Foulk said the baby was injured during the brawl around 3:30 a.m. Sunday in the second-floor duplex apartment his parents shared in the 300 block of East Fourth Street in downtown Erie.
"Never, never, never -- I can never remember anything like this," Mr. Foulk said.
In an affidavit filed to support Ms. Graham's arrest, police said baby Jarron was in a drug-induced coma in an intensive-care unit at the hospital. They said he suffered a fracture of the right temporal region and bleeding in his brain after Ms. Graham swung him and smacked his head against her boyfriend's midsection.
Erie police Capt. Frank Kwitowski said Mr. Troop, 20, is the father of Jarron and another of Ms. Graham's four children. The Erie County Office of Children and Youth ordered the other children removed from the home.
Temporary custody was granted to their maternal grandparents, Gloria Graham and Cornell Petty of Erie. Officials in Erie County Family Court yesterday said no hearings had been scheduled pertaining to custody of Jarron or his siblings.
Ms. Graham surrendered to police Sunday after learning she was wanted in connection with the injuries inflicted on her son, police said. When investigators questioned her, she "gave a statement and admitted to all the facts as we know them," Capt. Kwitowski said.
According to the affidavit, Ms. Graham told police she was out drinking Saturday night and early Sunday and began arguing with and shouting at Mr. Troop when she came home. During the dispute, she said, she threw several items at Mr. Troop before turning and grabbing baby Jarron from the bed and swinging him to hit Mr. Troop, the affidavit states.
Ms. Graham said she put the baby down, then fled after Mr. Troop punched her in the eye. Police said they found furniture knocked over and broken household goods in the apartment.
Police said they later took a second statement from Ms. Graham in which she told them there was no chance Mr. Troop hit their baby. Two of her children corroborated her story, police said.
Mr. Troop could not be reached yesterday and other relatives declined comment.
