Specialist Says Baby's Skull Was Fractured 'Like Puzzle Pieces'

TAMPA, FL — A man convicted of shaking a 3-month-old baby, fracturing her skull and permanently disabling her, will spend the next 25 years in prison.

Demarcus Johnson was sentenced by Judge Christopher Sabella Monday. State guidelines recommend at least 6.5 years in Florida State Prison. The maximum sentence is 30 years.

The injury took place in the baby's home on East 122nd Avenue near University Mall on July 13, 2018, when Johnson was watching the child while her mother, Tyreonna Williams, was at work.

When the child’s mother returned from work and found the baby, Ty’Ahni, unresponsive, Johnson did not tell her how the injury occurred. Instead, he insisted that nothing unusual happened, according to police.

The child survived the abuse due to life-saving emergency brain surgery performed after she was airlifted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.

A child abuse expert testified that the girl suffered such violent, abusive head trauma from forceful shaking back and forth—with one high-force impact to the left side of her head—that she instantly lost the ability to move, eat or even cry.

Prosecutors with the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office secured a guilty verdict against Johnson on Jan. 28 for aggravated child abuse with great bodily harm.

At trial, Assistant State Attorneys Melissa Grajales and Jessica O’Connor presented expert testimony from Dr. Sally Smith, medical director for Pinellas County’s Child Protection Team, showing that the abuse left the victim with multiple skull fractures and internal bleeding. Smith described the child’s skull as broken into fragments like “puzzle pieces.”

Ty'Ahni, who is now 4 years old, is confined to a wheelchair.

"She's never going to be able to walk, talk or eat on her own," said Williams. "I'm basically my daughter's voice now. I'm standing up for her because she can't do it herself."

“The most important thing we do is protecting the most vulnerable people in our community," Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren said. "And who is more vulnerable than a 3-month-old child? It was heartbreaking to see the damage that this defendant inflicted upon little Ty’Ahni. But at the end of the day, we’re able to secure a conviction, get a stiff sentence, and bring that little bit of closure back to Ty’Ahni and her family.”