Published: November 14, 2008 03:06 pm      

Mother gets 12 years for abuse

A McAlester woman has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for shaking her 4-month baby, causing hematomas in his head and hemorrhaging in his eyes.

Amy L. Long, 21, pleaded guilty last week to two counts of felony child abuse by injury. A third count of child neglect was dismissed in the plea bargain agreement with the district attorney’s office.

Another eight years in prison were suspended in the case, and Long was ordered to pay $3,150 in fines and court fees.

Capt. Don Hass of the McAlester Police Department, which investigated the case, said the baby, Kyle, was last known to be living with a family member.

“He’s doing well and with the grandparents,” Hass said this morning. He noted that Brent Gamble, the police detective in charge of the case, was satisfied with the Nov. 5 sentence.

According to the charges, Long’s baby was flown by medical helicopter to a Tulsa hospital on May 29. Long and two other people had taken the baby to the McAlester hospital’s emergency room after he was seen having seizures.

Witnesses told police Long had thought the baby’s “twitching” might be because he was having a bowel movement.

She was convicted of shaking him hard enough to cause the hematomas and hemorrhaging on May 26, and on another instance between May 7 and May 29.