2-month-old Spokane baby’s injuries prompt investigation of parents

Police are investigating the parents of a 2-month-old baby who showed several signs of shaken baby syndrome.

Emergency crews responded to a call at 501 E. Baldwin Ave. at about 4 p.m. Aug. 28. Upon arrival, they found Sequoia Smith not breathing and took her to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center.

Court documents state that the baby had bruising on her head, neck and legs, in addition to signs of broken bones and recently healed rib fractures on the front of her body. She was also found to have “severe retinal hemorrhages, which is a textbook sign of shaken baby syndrome,” court documents say.

The parents told police Sequoia’s injuries were possibly from her rolling off a 30-inch tall mattress onto a pair of her father’s steel-toed boots, according to court documents. A police search warrant says Sequoia’s mother, Autumn Smith, said she had seen Sebastian Smith, the baby’s father, shake Sequoia multiple times “in a very forceful manner.”

She also told police she had seen Sebastian Smith “throwing her around as if she were a much larger, older child” and “pick Sequoia up by one leg, and forcefully throw her into their bassinet,” according to court records. Sebastian Smith told detectives Friday that he had been frustrated with the baby’s crying and on some occasions shook the child, according to court papers.