CYFD: We found no signs of abuse

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A spokesperson for the state Children, Youth and Families Department said Monday an investigator found no evidence of abuse in the weeks leading up to a beating that put a 3-month-old girl on life support in an Albuquerque hospital.

"She saw the baby, she held the baby, she interviewed the parents, and based on the information available on that date, there was not ample cause or good reason to seek removal of that child," said CYFD spokesperson Romaine Serna.

Nichols and the baby's mother, Ashley Gibson, 19, were arrested Saturday after police say Nichols admitted to punching the child in the jaw at least 10 times, leaving her with multiple fractures and brain trauma.

CYFD said the girl is still on life support, and her condition is touch-and-go.

About two weeks before, a case manager at the Joy Junction homeless shelter in Albuquerque had called CYFD, saying the parents had taped a pacifier to the girl's mouth to make it stop crying.

The baby's father, Jacob Nichols, 20, told police he had used adhesive bandages to secure the pacifier, and a CYFD investigator determined the baby could stay with her parents.

But Joy Junction said a case manager had made at least seven phone calls to CYFD to follow up on that incident and report more abuse, such as a time when the case manager said the parents kept leaving the child alone in a room while they went outside to smoke.

"The messages that were left were not left with a sense of urgency," Serna said.

Serna also said the agency will investigate why the calls were not returned, and the agency is confident they'll have an acceptable explanation after the investigation. Serna also said the agency is looking into whether they need to improve how messages are checked and returned.

Police said while they investigated the most recent case, they discovered more alleged abuse. They believe the girl had been beaten since she was born, and that the parents would drop her on the bed for "entertainment" and to shock her into being quiet.

The girl's uncle, Mike Nichols, said he saw his niece on Friday when he had the family over for dinner, and said he saw no signs of abuse.

He said he didn't know his niece was in the hospital on life support until Monday, but because she's now in the state's custody he can't see her.

"She's at the hospital all by herself with nobody to hold her or touch her or nothing, you know," he said.

He wants to be there for his niece and fight for custody. Nichols is her closest relative.

He said he has nothing to say to his brother.

"I don't even know how he could consider himself a man," he said.

Mike Nichols on Tuesday said an account has been set up at MyBank at 6000 Montgomery Blvd. NE in Albuquerque in the girl's name, Shannowa Nichols.