Child allegedly injured by AP cop dies

A 22-month-old girl who authorities say was severely injured by Avon Park police officer James Parker died from her injuries today.

Kaedyn Short passed away at 9:38 a.m. at a hospice home where she was being cared for in her final days, according to a Highlands County Sheriff's Office press release.

Short was the daughter of Parker's former live-in girlfriend and had been on life support for some time after being hospitalized for multiple bruises and an apparent skull fracture March 29.

On May 4, attorney Richard Pipkin, speaking on behalf of Short's mother, had told a court room gathered for Parker's bond hearing that the child was being taken off life support.

If she did live, doctors said she would be a vegetative state, the attorney had added.

On March 29, deputies with the sheriff's office were called to Highlands Regional Medical Center after Short, then 20 months old, was being brought into the emergency room with multiple bruises on her body and an apparent skull fracture.

Her mother was at work at the time of the incident and Parker was reportedly watching the child, the press release stated.

Doctors told deputies that Short suffered multiple skull fractures and she was going to be transferred. Because of weather conditions, a helicopter could not get to Highlands Regional. Instead, a mobile pediatric unit from All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg was sent to Sebring to pick her up.

At Parker's May bond hearing, sheriff's office Det. Tyrone Tyson said there was evidence of older injuries on the child, including a two-month-old fractured right collarbone and a broken elbow, which occurred about a week prior to March 29.

Parker was charged with aggravated child abuse, domestic violence related, and remains in the Highlands County Jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond.

The sheriff's office is continuing to investigate the case, along with the state attorney's office, District 10 Medical Examiner's Office and the Department of Children and Families.

Assistant State Attorney Steve Houchin could not comment Wednesday afternoon if his office will file first-degree murder charges against Parker.

"Naturally, the autopsy will be the next step," Houchin said.

Parker has been with the Avon Park Police Department since 2006, and was previously employed by the department for roughly 20 months between 2002 and 2004. He was placed on administrative leave without pay pending further investigation.

On June 26, 2004, Parker was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge involving his former wife. He entered into a diversion program and the state attorney's office eventually deferred prosecution.

He was also involved in a 2008 New Year's Eve ruckus involving Pete and Sue Diaz of Avon Park. The couple was recently acquitted by a jury on battery charges against Parker.