9.19.11: Barnes Sentenced to 25 Years for Abusing 4-Month-Old Baby
September 19, 2011 -- Baltimore City Circuit Court Judge Edward Hargadon sentenced Antonio Barnes today to 30 years in prison, five of them suspended, for the abuse of a four-month-old child that resulted in head trauma, retinal hemorrhages, and a spinal fracture.
On June 12, 2009, Barnes was left in charge of four children, including the four-month-old. While in Barnes's care in a Southwest Baltimore home, the baby began having difficulty breathing. After the child's mother returned home, an ambulance was called. At Johns Hopkins Hospital, the baby was diagnosed with abusive head trauma, bleeding on the brain, retinal hemorrhages, and a spinal fracture.
During the three-day jury trial, Dr. Mitchell Goldstein, a lead doctor in the hospital's pediatric unit, testified that the injuries resulted from severe abuse. The jury convicted Barnes, 28, on May 16, 2011, of first-degree child abuse.
Baltimore State's Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein thanked Assistant State's Attorneys Kelly Burrell and Patricia McLane and Baltimore City Police Detective Milton Scott for their work on the case.