North Charleston mother charged with breaking infant son’s arm

A 31-year-old mother of five is accused of twisting her infant son’s arm with such force that it fractured, authorities said.

Deanna L. Brown, of Clements Avenue in North Charleston, is charged with ill treatment of a child. She was being held late Friday at the Charleston County jail.

The case stemmed from a May 26 injury to the 14-month-old boy that was discovered when Brown took to the child to Nason Medical Center, Charleston police said.

Brown told police her son had been with a caretaker the previous day and that the infant had trouble holding his bottle with both hands when she brought him home. He also had several bug bites. She told officers she sought medical attention for her son after he began to strongly favor the right side of his body, according to a police report.

After X-rays determined the boy had multiple fractures to his right arm, he was sent to Medical University Hospital, where he was admitted for treatment. Doctors there determined the child had a spiral fracture that was “likely physical abuse — arm twisted by another person who has adult type body strength,” a police report stated.

A hospital social worker notified the state Department of Social Service, which in turn called Charleston police, a report stated.

Neither the mother nor the caregiver could explain how the child got the injury, police said.

DSS, however, noted that it had several open cases with Brown for the past year alone, police said. Details of those cases were not immediately available Friday.

Brown was required to have three of her four other children evaluated by doctors at MUSC for potential abuse after the injury to her infant, police said. Those children, who were not injured, were later placed in the care of their grandmother, police said.

Police spokesman Charles Francis said further investigation revealed Brown was responsible for the infant’s injury. The boy is now doing fine, he said.

Reach Glenn Smith at 937-5556 or Twitter.com/glennsmith5.