A 27-year-old Ocala woman is being charged with child neglect after a child she was watching was rushed to AdventHealth with extensive bruising on his head and body, and a burn on his foot.
On Thursday, August 19, a Marion County Sheriff’s major crimes detective was called to AdventHeath Pediatric Emergency Room in reference to a victim with extensive bruising on and near his head. The victim had multiple bruises all over his body and a burn on his foot, according to a report from the sheriff’s office.
A registered nurse says the victim arrived at the emergency room with his father and his grandmother.
The detective observed the victim and noted that the left side of his face was enlarged and severely discolored from bruising. The victim’s eye was swollen shut and his left ear was discolored. The victim’s right arm had multiple bruises and he was also crying, according to the sheriff’s report.
The father of the victim said he placed the victim down for a nap on August 18 prior to him leaving for work and says 27-year-old Samantha Combs watches the victim and her own two children during the time he is at work.
The father says when he laid the victim down for his nap, he did not have any injuries. The father says when he came home from work, Combs was acting weird. He says he usually checks on the children, but Combs told him she already did so he played video games and went to sleep. The father says he was woken up by Combs who said something happened to the victim and claims she just found him like that. The father then rushed the victim to the hospital for treatment, according to the report.
Combs denies intentionally causing harm to the victim and claims her two sons, who are four years old and two years old, were striking the victim with multiple toys from the children’s playroom. Combs says she was not feeling well and admits she was not supervising the children. She later described it as a panic attack, according to the report.
Combs claims she heard the victim crying for at least thirty minutes and did not check on him. When she did, she claims she found the victim lying on his stomach while the other two children were striking the victim on the back of his head.
Combs admitted to dropping the victim in the kitchen, which has tile flooring, and claims it was an accident.
Combs was arrested and transported to the Marion County Jail with no set bond. She is charged with child neglect and a court date is set for September 21 at 9 a.m., jail records show.