A Vancouver man made his first appearance Wednesday in Clark County Superior Court after police arrested him on suspicion of assaulting his 5-month-old son, who was hospitalized with a brain injury.
Aaron M. Thornewood, 36, was arrested Tuesday and is accused of second-degree domestic violence child assault. He entered a not-guilty plea to the charge during his hearing.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Thornewood’s 5-month-old son was admitted Aug. 20 to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital after showing signs of head trauma.
Scans showed a hemorrhage on the left side of his head, and doctors performed surgery to remove the blood clot and stop bleeding into the boy’s brain cavity, according to court records.
Thornewood told police he was at home that day, and the boy was sitting with his two brothers, 1 and 3 years old, in a child’s activity chair. Thornewood said he heard the two arguing over a toy train while he was playing a video game. He then heard a smack and turned to see one of the boys holding the train while the 5-month-old was slumped over with his head on the chair’s tray, the affidavit says.
According to court records, Thornewood told police he thinks one of the older boys pulled the train from the other’s hand, and the momentum caused the boy to strike the 5-month-old in his head. The impact sent the youngest boy toppling, smacking his head on the table tray.
Thornewood said he only heard what happened, and that the 5-month-old started vomiting a few hours later, according to court records.
The next day, police spoke with the hospital’s child abuse and neglect team’s nurse practitioner. She said the three separate injuries hospital workers diagnosed weren’t consistent with what Thornewood described, court records state.
Further testing revealed more injuries consistent with a traumatic brain injury, one not explained by an accidental household injury, the affidavit says.
When presented with that information, Thornewood had no other plausible explanation for what happened, according to court records.
Thornewood’s bail was set at $20,000. His trial is scheduled for Nov. 5.
