Father arrested after infant suffers from brain bleed and bruises

DEL CITY, Okla. (KFOR) — A father remains locked up after admitting to hitting his six-week old baby boy.

Court documents reveal 24-year-old Abraham Chavez allegedly attacked his girlfriend while she was holding their six-week-old baby.

Joe Dorman, CEO of Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy, reacted to new court documents detailing the disturbing case of child neglect.

"This is just a tragic story," said Dorman.

On Tuesday, the Oklahoma City Police Department received a call from employees at OU Children's Hospital.

The infants injuries were discovered while the child was in the hospital for failure to gain weight.

That's when doctors noticed the baby had a skull fracture, brain bleed, and several bruises on his face.

Chavez told police he and his girlfriend got into a fight while she was holding their baby.

"We see this happen far too often and especially over the holiday season because of the stress of holidays, You often see families fighting and unfortunately, the innocent victims in this are those children," said Dorman.

Court documents say Chavez placed the baby's mother into a choke hold and told police he didn't realize she had their baby in her arms. But, he said he was "certain his fists had struck" the baby in the back of the head, causing some of the injuries.

"Hopefully this was not a case of failure to protect and the mother was doing what she could to protect the child," said Dorman.

Childcare advocates said sadly, stories like this are far too common.

"It's very important for families to understand if there's a stressful situation, is it better to step away. It's better to take a deep breath," said Dorman.

Chavez also told police two younger children witnessed the fight at home.

He is facing child neglect charges.