A Spokane Valley mother showed little remorse and laughed when speaking about her baby, who was found unresponsive Sunday with a brain bleed, according to a police investigation detailed in court records.
Spokane Valley deputies arrested 22-year-old Amlyann Harry on Sunday evening when family members discovered her 5-month-old baby boy was not breathing, according to court records. They informed law enforcement that Harry is rarely allowed to be alone with the child due to safety reasons. When the family started performing CPR, Harry stood "and stared," court records say.
According to court records, a deputy who interviewed Harry said she told him, "I abused my baby." She was emotionless and made the statement with a straight face, the deputy said, and admitted she's hit her infant before Sunday evening.
The infant was transported to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center's pediatric unit. Nurses and doctors who evaluated the boy in the intensive care unit informed investigators the child was critically ill and could die of a brain bleed, court records say. They also said that brain bleeds in infants are usually a sign of abuse.
Harry was then taken to the Spokane Valley precinct where she told detectives the baby boy was crying and wouldn't stop. She shook her baby, slapped him three times with an open palm and then threw him 3 feet onto the floor, court records say. When the child stopped breathing, Harry tried CPR, but it wasn't working, she told detectives.
Harry placed the child on her bed until the infant's grandmother got home 10 minutes later. Harry told her mother that she believed her child was dead and didn't call police because she didn't have a phone, court records say.
She also told detectives she "felt dead inside" and had not bonded with her child, so Harry didn't feel affection for him.
"The defendant lacked any sign of remorse and the only emotion she showed was laughter and often smiled when she spoke about the incident," detectives wrote in court records.
Harry was booked into the Spokane County Jail on suspicion of first-degree assault of a child.
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