Man Pleads In Abuse Of Son, 5 Months: Cherokee Prosecutors

CHEROKEE COUNTY, GA — A man has pled guilty to slapping his 5-month-old son in the face and causing a traumatic brain injury for the boy in Cherokee County, prosecutors said Monday.

Cherokee County District Attorney Susan K. Treadaway said Anthony Eugene Manzi, 39, pled guilty Thursday to three counts of first-degree cruelty to children after acknowledging slapping his son in the face and not seeking immediate medical care.

The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office on Aug. 15, 2024 began investigating Manzi after his son was treated for serious injuries at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, prosecutors said. The child was later taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Scottish Rite.

The day prior, prosecutors said Manzi told detectives his son “would not stop screaming” and appeared to be in pain. He also told them the boy seemed to be dazed and was experiencing trouble feeding, prosecutors said.

Manzi acknowledged slapping the infant in the face “really [expletive] hard" before laying the child down for a nap, prosecutors said. They added the child then began vomiting and having seizures.

Around 10:15 a.m., Manzi sent a video to the child's mother via Facebook Messenger. In the video, prosecutors said the boy took "gasping breaths, and his body was jerking as his head moved upward then fell limply to the side."

The child's right eye was deviated, and the left side of his face was red and swollen, prosecutors said. About an hour later, Manzi arrived at the mother’s workplace and told her they needed to go to the hospital.

At Wellstar Kennestone, treatment included intubating the infant due to respiratory failure before transferring him to CHOA for more advanced care.

"The CHOA Child Protection Team determined the child’s lethargy, vomiting, seizures and respiratory failure were caused by brain bleeds and swelling consistent with abusive head trauma from a rapid acceleration/deceleration event and/or extraordinary rotational forces. These injuries and symptoms are commonly seen when infants are violently shaken," prosecutors said in a news release.

They say investigators believed the abuse began in the days leading to Aug. 15, when Manzi told them he slapped the child.

The Georgia Division of Family and Children Services placed the boy in foster care for his safety, and he is now in the process of being adopted, prosecutors said. They noted he suffers "physical and intellectual limitations."

“This defenseless baby had a lifetime ahead of him, and in seconds, this defendant inflicted a violent injury from which he will never fully recover,” Assistant District Attorney Leyna Pope of the Special Victims Unit said in the release. “After enduring so much, this little boy continues to show incredible strength and resilience.”

Manzi entered a negotiated sentence of 20 years - the maximum - with the first 15 years to serve in prison and the remainder on probation.

He is also forbidden to have contact with his son or with anyone younger than age 18 during the duration of his sentence, prosecutors said.

“This case is a devastating reminder that infants are completely dependent on the adults entrusted with their care,” Treadaway said in the release. “When that trust is violated, the consequences can be lifelong. The sentence imposed reflects the seriousness of that betrayal and ensures this defendant will no longer pose a danger to a child who had no ability to protect himself.”