Hammond Mom Charged In Beating Death Of Infant Daughter

HAMMOND, IN — A Hammond woman is being held without bond at the Lake County Jail after she was charged with murder Thursday for the fatal beating of her daughter who was born cocaine positive this summer, court documents claim. According to The Times, court records filed Thursday reported that in addition to murder, 27-year-old Lisa M. Rodriguez was charged in Lake Criminal Court with neglect of a dependent resulting in death and battery on a person less than 14 years old. The news report said Rodriguez brought the infant, Brooklynn Rodriguez, to Franciscan Health in Hammond Tuesday, as court records state the baby was pale, cold, lifeless, and had several bruises on her body and swelling on the right side of her head. The infant was pronounced dead around 12:30 p.m., as a result of blunt force trauma to the head, according to Lake County Coroner's Office records.

Records state Rodriguez gave nurses inconsistent statements about Brooklynn's death, according to The Times, claiming in one that her baby was with a friend who police found out had been in the hospital. In addition, a case manager from the Indiana Department of Child Services said that due to the infant being cocaine positive at birth in July, they were granted a pickup order from the Lake County Juvenile Court for the end of October, but couldn't locate the mother and baby.

The Times said the woman told detectives she lived with her boyfriend at his grandfather's house in the 4900 block of Hickory Avenue. That's where court records said the grandfather heard Rodriguez yell at the child Tuesday morning, and also told authorities he didn't hear anything until later when Rodriguez left the house with the baby, The Times said. His claims were supported by surveillance footage from the house.

Patch will update this story as information comes in.

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