TAVARES, Fla. (WFLA) – A mother and man have been arrested after a 10-year-old child was taken to hospital with injuries consistent with physical abuse, the Tavares Police Department said.
On February 22nd, TPD responded to Advent Health Watermen in regards to children covered in bruises at various stages of healing, burns and other injuries.
Hospital staff implemented life-saving measures before the 10-year-old was transferred to the trauma center, police said. He remains in a dangerous state.
The child was brought to his mother, Kimberly Mills, and a man now known as Andre Dwayne Walker.
A trainee from Lakeland police officer was arrested for shoplifting, police say
Police said when they arrived at the hospital, Mills would run through the kids while they were playing CPR, telling hospital staff they needed help. Nursing staff quickly began to help the children.
While the child was undergoing CPR in the emergency department, Mills and Walker left the hospital after learning that law enforcement was responding to the hospital.
“It is clear to our institution that this child has been terribly abused. He is covered from head to toe with bruises of different sizes at different stages of healing,” Tavares Police Detective Courtney. Sullivan said.
Mills returned to the hospital with another child after a while, but Walker was not with her.
According to the TPD, Mills refused to provide law enforcement information about how the child was injured.
Detectives conducted a search warrant at Mills’s home, where they found appropriate evidence and confirmed the man’s identity.
Mills was arrested for aggravated child abuse, and she and the other children were handed over to the Children and Family Department.
Walker asked himself on February 23rd after a warrant for accessories was issued after the fact that he exacerbated child abuse.
