Police arrested the grandmother of a 1-year-old who died Wednesday at the Medical University of South Carolina after being airlifted from a Conway hospital Monday night.
On Friday, Horry County investigators detained and questioned 37-year-old Julia Shawnette Gorman, along with her boyfriend, 30-year-old Robert Andrew Palmer, in connection with the child’s death.
Friday afternoon, investigators charged Gorman with a homicide by child abuse charge, which carries a mandatory 20 years in prison up to a life sentence and Palmer faces unlawful neglect charges in connection to the baby’s death.
Investigators took the couple to the M.L. Brown Building in Conway for questioning Friday morning, then booked the couple into the J. Reuben Long Detention Center around noon.
The couple lives in the Galivants Ferry area, according to booking reports.
County investigator David Weaver, the lead detective on the child abuse case, served the pair with their warrants Friday afternoon.
The warrants state that Gorman inflicted the deadly injuries to her 17-month-old grandson, and that Palmer failed to report the incident and also failed to get medical attention for the child.
Police think the injuries happened sometime between July 11 and July 14 at the couple’s home on Highway 129 near Aynor.
Medics flew the child from the Conway Medical Center late Monday night after Gorman and Palmer took the baby to the hospital, according to a county police report.
An autopsy is set for Saturday to determine the exact cause of death, according to Edge.
In a criminal record check on Gorman and Palmer, News13 found that the state Highway Patrol charged Gorman with failing to restrain a child in a vehicle and ticketed her for not wearing seatbelt in late January.
Gorman pleaded guilty to the charges on Feb. 08, 2008in Conway, according to county records.
Palmer had several traffic offenses, but the county records on Palmer showed no prior criminal charges against him.
The baby’s mother is living in Arizona, and the child’s father, Richard Grimes, is living in Virginia, according to family members.
The father placed the emergency call to Horry County dispatch Monday night from Virginia, according to the police report.
We do not know the custody status of the baby at the time of the incident on July 14.
You can count on News13 to continue to update this story as details become available.
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