Texas is preparing to put a man to death Thursday in what would be the nation’s first execution involving a case of “shaken baby syndrome,” a diagnosis that has been re-evaluated in more recent years, leading to the overturning of similar convictions.
Prosecutors argued that Nikki must have been shaken to death because she had been diagnosed with “the triad” — a swollen and bleeding brain and retinal hemorrhaging — symptoms once believed to be indisputable evidence of shaken baby syndrome.
In 2009, the American Academy of Pediatrics changed the name of shaken baby syndrome to the more broadly defined “abusive head trauma” to include injuries caused by mechanisms other than shaking alone.
It is now medical consensus that other medical conditions, including infections, accidental trauma and pre-existing illnesses, can also cause the symptoms associated with shaken baby syndrome.
Hundreds of possible shaken baby and abusive head trauma cases are reported to hospitals in the U.S. every year, according to a nonprofit advocacy group.
Persons:
Robert Roberson, Greg Abbott, Lester Holt, Paroles, Abbott, Roberson, ” Brian Wharton, “, I’ve, I’m, ”, Nikki, Wharton, Roberson's, Gretchen Sween
Organizations:
U.S, Supreme, NBC, Texas, NBC News, Prosecutors, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Registry, Palestine, Food and Drug Administration
Locations:
Texas, Huntsville, U.S, East Texas