Baby who allegedly suffered child abuse dies two years after injuries

LADSON — An infant at the center of a shaken-baby case two years ago has died in foster care, though the cause of her death may remain a mystery for the near future, authorities said.

Jasmine Lynn Steen had no outward sign of injury when she died at a home in Ladson about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad said. An autopsy on Wednesday was inconclusive. The coroner didn't expect to know how the 2-year-old died for at least a few more weeks, when toxicology results come back from the lab.

Jasmine's parents were arrested on felony child-abuse charges in August 2006 after they took the girl to a hospital with critical injuries. Charges against David Steen Jr., 23, and Lynn Steen, 16, were pending, said Julian Malasi, a spokesman for the 9th Circuit Solicitor's Office.

On Aug. 5, 2006, the then-7-week-old girl wasn't responsive and had no brain activity when her father rushed her to Trident Medical Center. She was transferred to Medical University Hospital, where doctors learned she had massive bleeding in her skull. They told a deputy the didn't think she would survive.

Days later, Berkeley County sheriff's detectives arrested her parents. Patricia Steen, then 16, was prosecuted as an adult.

The parents were accused of inflicting great bodily injury on a child, a crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison. They also were indicted on charges of a parent knowingly allowing another person to inflict great bodily injury on a child, punishable by up to five years in prison.

In late 2006, Jasmine had survived the brain damage, but was being kept alive with a feeding tube. She and her older brother, David Caleb, now 3, were in the custody of the Department of Social Service where they were expected to remain in foster care until the case against the Steens was concluded.

Read more in tomorrow's editions of The Post and Courier.