East Deer couple faces 11 felony counts, accused of causing 1-year-old’s skull fracture
An East Deer couple face nearly a dozen felony charges after police accused them of causing a skull fracture to a 1-year-old while fighting with the child’s mother.
Catalina Hirth, 26, and Lewis Davis, 23, both of the 100 block of Clarks Pike Road, were charged by Allegheny County Police with six counts of aggravated assault and five counts of criminal conspiracy, which are felonies, along with misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and criminal conspiracy.
They were released on nonmonetary bonds and ordered to appear for a preliminary hearing before District Judge Carolyn Bengel on Jan. 17.
A county police detective wrote in a criminal complaint that Allegheny Valley Regional Police officers were dispatched shortly before noon on Nov. 1 to the couple’s home for a domestic dispute and found a woman and her 1-year-old child suffering from injuries.
They were taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, where the child underwent emergency neurosurgery to repair a skull fracture that caused brain matter to extrude from their skull, according to the complaint.
The child’s mother was treated for cuts and bruises to her face and arms, the complaint said.
The woman told police that she and her child recently moved into her mother’s home in East Deer and that she was having problems with her brother, Davis, and his girlfriend, Hirth.
She told police that an argument she was having with Hirth turned physical after Hirth threw a glass of juice in her face and charged toward her, the complaint said.
The woman told police Hirth punched her in the head, police said. She fought back but was overcome when Davis joined in on the beating, the complaint said.
The woman told police that when the fighting began she placed her child on a staircase landing. She said she grabbed a kitchen cabinet door that was being used as a baby gate and was able to deflect a plastic vase that was thrown at her, the complaint said.
She told police that she threw the cabinet door at Davis, who retrieved it and threw it back at her, the complaint said.
When the woman deflected the door to avoid being hit; it landed on the staircase and struck the baby in the head, according to investigators.
Tony LaRussa is a TribLive reporter. A Pittsburgh native, he covers crime and courts in the Alle-Kiski Valley. He can be reached at tlarussa@triblive.com.
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