At 1 yo, the cranial suture lines should have been sealed. In order to fracture a sealed cranium, significant force must be directly applied. The force generated by falling off a normal height couch is nowhere near enough to fracture bone – even for a 1 yo.

“Error in judgment?” (Providing alcohol to a minor is an “error in judgment.”) When an adult agrees to babysit, he/she inherently accepts responsibility for the minor, Claiming ignorance for “not know to call 911″ is a poor excuse.

Obviously blame cannot be placed on the 1 yo, so who else can be responsible?

HG, you are out of line for calling the father “crummy.”

On a lighter note, I appreciate the reply

This woman was not charged with murder, but rather with child neglect, which indicates the police believe it was an accident based on the evidence. Assuming the police are correct, and the child’s injury was caused by a fall, then we are left to judge if the babysitter should have known to call 911 right away. In my opinion, most people would not know to call 911, or to take the child to the hospital, unless there is a visible bump or bruise on their head. The fact is a person can die from a closed head injury, like this one, between 24 to 72 hours after the initial injury if bleeding, or brain swelling becomes severe enough. I’m not going to condemn a woman for making an error in judgment that most people might have made.

Situations like this should remind parents it’s better to watch your own children.