Staff Report

Kaiden Eugene Meade

MENTONE — A Mentone man was recently arrested for allegedly battering a child who had to be airlifted to a Fort Wayne hospital for their injuries.

Kaiden Eugene Meade, 20, 506 N. Broadway St., Mentone, is charged with domestic battery to a person less than 14 years of age resulting in serious bodily injury, a level 3 felony; and obstruction of justice, a level 6 felony.

On Feb. 26, 2023, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a report of a baby sustaining injuries. Upon arrival at the scene, the deputy spoke with Meade, who said he put the child to bed and that they woke up an hour later and were fussy.

According to court documents, Meade said when he went to pick the child up, he started to drop them over a crib. When he caught the child to prevent them from falling, their neck snapped backward.

Meade went on to say the child was moving their arms differently and that their eyes looked different.

During the investigation, the deputy asked the child’s mother if Meade was ever aggressive. The mother said Meade was sometimes aggressive when he was mad, but that he never took out that aggression toward the child. The deputy also asked about a hole in a bedroom door at the residence. The mother said Meade had punched the wall.

While at a hospital, Meade said he picked the child up from a crib and tripped over a baby gate in a doorway. Medical staff later advised the child would need to be airlifted to a hospital in Fort Wayne to expedite the child’s treatment.

A KCSO detective interviewed a responding EMT, who said Meade told her he picked up the child and lost his grip, and that the child almost fell down into the crib. There was no mention of tripping over a baby gate when the EMT and responding KCSO deputy were getting a trauma history from Meade.

The child was admitted to the Lutheran Hospital Pediatric Intensive Care Unit in Fort Wayne for a brain bleed. An assessment showed the child sustained pre-retinal, intraretinal, and sub-retinal hemorrhages, and a subdural hematoma.

The diagnosis was the child’s injuries were non-accidental and inconsistent with the reported history given by Meade. Riley Hospital’s Child Protection Team’s evaluation stated the traumatic history offered to explain the child’s injuries did not adequately explain the child’s injuries.

During the investigation, the KCSO detective also learned of a prior incident where the child had an unexplained facial injury while in Meade’s care that Meade said occurred while he was co-sleeping with the child.

Meade was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on May 30, 2024, with a $21,000 surety and cash bond.