This is the story of Kaylee Rose, who is a victim of shaken baby syndrome

It was November 21st when I got the phone call that changed my life. I was at work and about 8:30 p.m. my husband called me and told me that Kaylee, our daughter, had turned white and then gone limp. He told me he was taking her to the hospital. I immediately left work then met him at home where I jumped out of one car and into another. We raced to the hospital. On the way there I sat in the back seat because Kaylee was unresponsive and was breathing irregularly. When we got to the hospital we went to the emergency room where the Doctors were waiting for us. They hooked her up to machines and gave her oxygen. Kaylee then started to come too. The Doctor said that it sounded like Kaylee had had a seizure. I later learned that Kaylee was in her swing and she let out a piercing scream, while her legs and arms went out stiff in front of her. When my Husband picked her up she went limp. The doctors drew blood and later did a spinal tap to rule out meningitis. Both tests came back negative. Kaylee was admitted for observation. They weren't sure what had caused the seizure. On November 23, Kaylee had two more seizures one lasting 10 minutes the other lasting 27 minutes. A cat scan was done and showed that there was some bleeding around her brain. Kaylee was airlifted to Childrens Hospital in Minneapolis. When we arrived there the doctors showed us the results of Kaylees catscan. There were areas in both the front and the back of her brain that had blood in them. They were certain that her injuries were the results of shaken baby syndrome. I was shocked and couldn't believe that the doctors could possibly believe that we would ever hurt Kaylee intentionally. We were told that there would be some people interviewing us to find out what happened and that they would also do a complete body x-ray of Kaylee to see if there were any fractures, this is also common with shaken baby syndrome. The hospital social worker also had to notify child protection services in the county where we lived. I was mad that they would suggest that we could do that to Kaylee, but the more they told us it was the only way a 2 month old could sustain such force to the head to cause bleeding, the more I wondered if they were right. My husband and I were the only care givers to Kaylee. I started to wonder if he could have done such a thing, I then realized that he had to have done it because I knew it wasn't me. I kept asking him if he had done anything and he kept denying it. Later that day a police officer from our county came to interview us. He interviewed me first for approximately 45 minutes. Then he interviewed my husband. While the officer was interviewing my husband, the doctor in charge of Kaylee's care gave us the results of the body x-ray. Kaylee had 7 fractures. 3 ribs were broken, along with chip fractures in both knees and ankles. I was in complete shock. I had never suspected it! Kaylee had never shown any signs of pain or had any bruising. The police officer came out from his interview and told me that my husband had admitted to shaking Kaylee. He was arrested and taken back to our county jail.

After 3 days in the pediatric ICU and two days on another floor, Kaylee was released. She came home the day after Thanksgiving. Three days later she started having seizures again and was hospitalized at our local hospital. She had 12 seizures within a 24 hour period and her medication had to be adjusted again. After 10 days her blood levels were within the normal range and she was able to come home. Kaylee is doing very well now. She is on Phenobarbital and Dilantin for seizures, Iron for her low hemoglobin, and Propulsid to help keep her from spitting up. She would spit up almost everything she ate.( I have now learned excessive spitting up is often found in shaken baby syndrome.) She also has damage in her right eye due to retinal bleeding caused from the shaking.

Kaylee seems to be developing at the normal rate for a 2 month old. But we won't know for sure until she is older. There will be more check-ups to the doctors for sometime. Kaylee is now considered a special needs baby due to her injuries.

This has changed our lives dramatically. I'm now living with my parents but both Kaylee and I have alot of love and support from both family and friends. My husband is now in jail awaiting trial. He has been charged with both felony assault and negligence. He faces up to 20 years in jail and a $30,000.00 fine, right now he is to have no contact with Kaylee or anyone under the age of 18 yrs. It is very likely that the only visits he will have with Kaylee will be supervised. If he is found guilty he could loose all voting, fishing,and hunting Privileges for the remainder of his life.

I have decided to divorce my husband since I feel I can no longer trust him and can never forgive him for what he did to Kaylee.

Shaken baby syndrome is a very serious form of child abuse that can result in death. Until this happened to Kaylee, I didn't know much about shaken baby syndrome. I knew that shaking a baby was bad. You hear stories about it, but until it happens to you, you don't realize the impact of it.

Please, never shake a baby!

 Here is a update of Kaylee's story:

As of 12/9/1998 Kaylee was released from the local hospital and seems to be doing fine.

12/20/98 There was a Omnibus hearing for the father....not to much can be said about the hearing

12/22/98 We had a C.H.I.P.S petition....provides protection for Kaylee

1/27/99 Here is a recent picture of Kaylee. Her last check up in the Twin cities went well, and she has gone in for her booster shots.

2/6/2000 Kaylee's father pled guilty to "malicious punishment with intent to cause great bodily harm."

Here is an article from the local paper:

Man gets 4-year sentence for shaking his baby By Al Edenloff Editor Friday, 2/4/00 A 25-year-old Kensington man was sentenced to four years in prison for shaking his two-month-old daughter hard enough to cause severe injuries. Todd Michael Coziahr received the sentence from Judge David Battey in Douglas County District Court Wednesday. Coziahr had pleaded guilty to the felony charge of malicious punishment of a child. A second charge against him, first-degree assault, was dis-missed. His time behind bars will be reduced because he was given credit for the 351 days he was jailed after his arrest. Coziahr was also ordered to pay a $750 fine and a surcharge of $25. Coziahr faced a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. The four-year prison sen-tence was recommended by Douglas County Attorney Chris Karpan after what he described as "a lot of soul searching." Karpan noted that Coziahr had no prior criminal record. "He had never spent an hour in jail [before this incident]," Karpan noted. "What he did have was an inability to control his actions when he became overwhelmed with the task of parenting an infant. "Simply put," Karpan continued, "his maturity level was not where it needed to be to deal with the trials and tribulations of caring for a baby." Karpan stressed, however, that the frustrations of parenting have "never been, are not now, and never will be an excuse for losing control of your temper at the expense of a helpless infant." Accordingly, Karpan noted, while Coziahr may not be traditional "prison material," the acts of injuring a child were "simply too morally and legally unacceptable" for his office to recommend only a brief stint in the local jail. Karpan added that the biggest relief in this case is that the baby girl Coziahr shook is "by all indications, now a happy, healthy 17 month old." "At this point, she appears to show no sign of the trauma she suffered back in November of 1998 and is in the capable care of her very loving and caring mother," Karpan said. The shaken-baby investigation began in late November of 1998 after a registered nurse from the Minneapolis Children's Hospital contacted the Douglas County Sheriff's Department about a baby who had been transferred from the Douglas County Hospital. According to the nurse, the baby was suffering from multiple injuries to the brain, which were "highly indicative" of Shaken Baby Syndrome. In a taped interview with an investigator, Coziahr cited examples of times he would become frustrated with the baby and how his conduct regarding the child's care could have caused injury to the child. On the day the baby was taken to the hospital, Coziahr was reportedly taking care of the baby by himself while his wife was at work. According to court documents, Coziahr said he was trying to burp the child when she spit up and got her clothing dirty as well as his pants and arm. He stated that he got angry at that point and shook the baby and then forcibly put her down on the changing table, the complaint noted. After he calmed down, Coziahr said he gave the baby a bath and placed her in a swing, according to the complaint. After sitting in the swing for about an hour, the baby suddenly gave a shriek and began to go into a seizure, Coziahr stated in the complaint. After reviewing medical reports and talking to doctors and nurses, the investigator said he learned the baby had multiple brain injuries which resulted in bleeding into the brain on more than one occasion. The baby also had numerous fractures in the ribs and in both legs. Coziahr was held at the Douglas County Jail until November 9, 1999 when he posted a $5,000 bail. Taken from the Echo Press

Kaylee and I now live with my Grandma and Grandpa. Kaylee seems to be doing very well. She is quite active and talks all the time. She loves to take baths and likes the show Bear in the Big Blue House. I would have to say that right now her favorite food is French Fries. Kaylee also likes anything to do with Pooh. Kaylee is too young to understand anything about her dad.( I'm sure she doesn't even remember him.)Right now he can have no contact with her but I don't know what will happen when he gets out of prison.There will probably be more court hearings to determin visitation rights. I worry about the visitations and how I'll explain things to Kaylee when she's older. But thats not something that I'll have to deal with in the near future. This has really changed my life. Im trying to build a new life for Kaylee and myself.It hasn't been easy although it gets a little easier with time.Right now I work at a house with developmentally disabled people. I plan to go back to school and continue in that field. I never thought that I would have to deal with Shaken Baby Syndrome.My heart goes out to anyone who has gone through this as I know only too well how it changes your life. I know I am very lucky because there are children that have been permanently brain damaged and many have even died. I'm very thankful that Kaylee is doing so well. I don't know what I would do without her. Kaylee is my life.

If you would like to contact Kaylee's mother or grandparents, you can via e-mail. Kaylee's e-mail

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