Steamwood man accused of shaking baby
Authorities have charged a 25-year-old man with shaking his girlfriend’s 10-month-old baby in Elgin.
Michael D. Benitez, of the 200 block of East Maxon Lane, Streamwood, is charged with felony aggravated battery of a child, according to court records.
He was being held at the Kane County jail on $250,000 bail, which means he must post $25,000 in order to be free pending trial.
Benitez is next due in court Nov. 10 and faces 6 to 30 years in prison if convicted.
Elgin police spokeswoman Sue Olafson said police arrested Benitez on Saturday, two days after Benitez and the mother took the baby girl to Provena St. Joseph Hospital in Elgin. Authorities believe Benitez shook the baby on Oct. 25 while baby-sitting while the baby’s mom was at work, Olafson said.
“It would appear that he shook the child because it would not stop crying,” Olafson said, adding the baby had bleeding on the brain.
The baby’s condition was not immediately available.
According to court documents, the shaking caused the baby to sustain a head injury.