October 15, 2020
PORTLAND, Ore. – Today, Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt announced that 19-year-old Isaiah Hill is accused of assaulting an eight month old baby, which resulted in life threatening injuries.
Hill is charged with one count of assault in the first degree and one count of criminal mistreatment in the first degree.
This case is being investigated and prosecuted by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team. More information on this team is included near the end of this press release.
According to court documents, this investigation started on October 10, 2020 when paramedics responded to Hill’s southwest Portland residence after receiving information that the baby was having difficulty breathing and was having seizures.
Paramedics responded to the home and transported the baby to the hospital. Doctors determined the baby had a profuse brain injury and extensive ligament damage in his cervical and thoracic spine, according to court documents.
Law enforcement with the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team spoke with Hill during its criminal investigation. Hill ultimately admitted that he shook, squeezed and then “dropped” the child on a bed; that he then walked away but then noticed the child was seizing, according to court documents.
Hill, as alleged in court documents, waited approximately 20-30 minutes before calling the child’s mother who then called 9-1-1
The child remains on life support at a Portland hospital.
No additional information can be released by the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office at this time.
A charging document is only an accusation of a crime. Hill is innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team includes representatives from CARES Northwest, local law enforcement, public schools, hospitals, health departments, local mental health service providers, the Oregon Department of Human Services, and Multnomah County’s Department of Community Justice.
The Multnomah County District Attorney’s Multidisciplinary Child Abuse Team works with community partners to protect children who have been abused and neglected while ensuring that all practices are trauma-informed and mitigate the life-long consequences of child abuse. The team also handles child homicides, felony child physical abuse cases, felony child abandonment cases, custodial interference cases, and felony sex crimes where the victim is currently under the age of 18 and where the suspect is determined not to be a stranger to the child.
CARES Northwest, Multnomah County’s child abuse assessment center, is a community-based medical program for the assessment, treatment and prevention of child abuse. The organization is one of the largest child abuse assessment centers in the nation and serves more than 5,000 children annually.
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Media Contact:
Brent Weisberg, Communications Director
Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office
Email: Brent.Weisberg@nullmcda.us