SWANTON HOMICIDE: CONFRONTED BY TROOPERS, MOTHER RECALLED SHAKING BABY
By Gregory J. Lamoureux
County Courier
SWANTON: Stephanie Gero, 28, of Swanton appeared in Franklin County Criminal Court today, entering a not guilty plea on two counts related to the death of her one-month-old baby in August.
According to court records released to the County Courier after Thursday morning’s arraignment, Gero recalled shaking the baby boy out of frustration about two weeks before the boy’s death.
The father, Matthew Cushing, woke up around 4:30 am on the morning of August 1st, to discover that his one-month-old baby boy, Leo Cushing, was not breathing. He called to another family member in an adjoining apartment for help, and the family member began doing CPR until members of Missisquoi Valley Rescue responded to the scene.
When the ambulance arrived on the scene, at 4:57 am, the crew chief called the time of death, without performing any further life-saving measures.
Police responded to the Route 207 apartment, just up the road from Tractor Supply, about a half-hour later and began investigating the untimely death of the infant.
The Chief Medical Examiner told investigators that the boy died as a result of a brain hemorrhage and that he sustained a brain injury near the brain stem.
The investigation initially turned to Matthew Cushing, who was the only one in the apartment with the child and had thrown a small birthday party the day prior, consuming several beers throughout the day, according to court records.
A family member who was taking care of the infant during the party told investigators that the boy had a seizure during the party, but they chalked it up to ongoing medical challenges the baby had been experiencing due to Gero’s drug use during the pregnancy, records said.
Gero was interviewed by police several times in the four months since the death of the baby but did not offer up that information until November 16th, when she was questioned by Troopers at the St. Albans Police Barracks.
“I did like, just shake him a little bit,” said Gero, according to a sworn affidavit written by Detective Trooper Angela Baker, “‘Cause I was frustrated” she later added.
When asked on a scale of 1 to 10, she told the Troopers that she shook the boy a “5.”
Gero also told police that there was at least one time when she forcefully dropped her child into a ‘pack-and-play’ out of frustration from the baby’s crying.
Police asked Gero to reenact the scenario, which she did, in the interrogation room at the Barracks, shaking the doll in front of a camera for two to three seconds, two different times.
Matthew Cushing, 36, the father of the baby boy filed for a relief from abuse order against Gero three days before the death of the boy. According to court documents, Cushing said Gero’s behavior had become violent at times, both against Matthew and the baby.
Cushing agreed to work with investigators as they conducted a “wire warrant” against Gero, making three different phone calls to Gero, from Cushing’s cell phone.
During the recorded phone calls, Gero told Cushing that she shook the baby, but denied the death of the boy was her fault because “whoever did this purposefully shook [the baby] to the point that his head was all over the place,” she said.
Gero would continue to tell Cushing in the wiretap that she could not take responsibility for the death of her baby, noting that she could go to jail for 15 years if she did.
According to the Trooper’s account of the wiretap, Gero became agitated, to the point that she replied to Cushing’s accusations of harming the child with “you want me to tell them I killed [the baby]. Fine, I killed him! You happy?”
The 19-page affidavit spells out the investigation from the Medical Examiner’s ruling to the multiple interviews with the parents.
Judge Kristin Schoonover, reduced Gero’s bail to $5,000 from the $25,000 bail that had previously been placed in the case. In addition, Gero was ordered to only be released into the custody of a responsible adult, approved by the court.
Conditions of release including not having any contact with Matthew Cushing, not to have any custody of children under the age of 18, and that she may be arrested without a warrant if she does not follow her conditions of release.
Gero was charged with cruelty to a child with death resulting, as well as aggravated domestic assault in the first degree. If convicted of both charges, she could face up to 25 years behind bars.
As for Matthew Cushing, he is scheduled to be in Franklin County Criminal Court for his arraignment on December 22nd to answer to the charge of cruelty to a child with death resulting. That charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years behind bars.
