Girl, 3, Body Slammed, Beaten Over Peed Pants, Deputies Say

HUDSON, FL — A 25-year-old Hudson man faces criminal charges after Pasco County Sheriff’s deputies say a toddler in his care wound up in an emergency room malnourished, dehydrated and suffering from life threatening injuries. Deputies say Eric Latrone Sanders beat the girl several times over the course of several months as punishment when she peed herself.

The alleged abuse began around Nov. 1, 2016, at which time Sanders is accused of “kicking the victim in the thighs and stomach, whipping the victim maliciously with a belt numerous times” and punching her, an arrest report said. “The defendant refused to diaper the child because they cost too much and thought the victim should learn not to pee on herself,” the arrest report said.

The incident that led to the child’s hospitalization began to unfold on Jan. 17, 2017, when the child urinated on herself and her mother placed her into a timeout in a corner, the arrest report said. Sanders allegedly decided the punishment wasn’t enough “so he kicked the victim in the back causing her to hit the wall face first and then fall down on her back,” the report said. “The defendant then stood over the top of the victim and grabbed her by the throat, picked her up over his head, and slammed the victim to the ground causing the victim to hit her head on the hard floor surface.”

The child was rendered unconscious, the report said, and began to experience a seizure. She was initially taken to Bayonet Point Hospital for treatment, but was later airlifted to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg. Dr. Sally Smith, director of Pinellas County’s Child Protection team, evaluated the girl at Johns Hopkins, the report said. Smith told Pasco investigators the girl was suffering from “severe malnourishment and dehydration.” She also suffered head and liver injuries that are described as life threatening, the report said.

Sanders was brought into custody on Jan. 25 on a count of child neglect with serious injury and child abuse. Additional charges of aggravated child abuse were announced Monday morning, Feb. 6.

The child's mother, Kimberly Lashawn Bedwell, 28, was also arrested on Jan. 25 on a charge of child neglect with serious injury. She was released from the Pasco County Jail in lieu of $10,000 bond, jail records indicate.

Sanders remained in the Pasco County Jail Monday in lieu of $115,000 bond, according to jail records.

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Editor's note: this story was updated at 3 p.m. Feb. 6 with information about Kimberly Lashawn Bedwell's arrest.

Booking photos courtesy of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office