From staff reports
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The mother of a critically injured 18-month-old girl has yet to be taken into custody on charges that she endangered the life of her daughter and hindered efforts to locate her alleged abuser.
Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland said about noon today that Gina L. Salazar, 22, is believed to be in Kansas City, where her daughter, Ada Bowman, remains in critical condition at Children’s Hospital. But a judge has ordered that she is not to be allowed in to see the child at the hospital, the sheriff said.
“We’ve been talking to her (by phone),” Copeland said. “She’s aware that charges have been filed and she’s agreed to come turn herself in.”
Salazar’s boyfriend, Bryant L. Sykes Jr., 24, remains in custody on charges of first-degree assault. He is suspected of having caused the girl’s injuries on Tuesday while she and her brother and sister, ages 3 and 2, were left in his care at their home in a mobile home park outside Joplin.
The girl reportedly suffered bleeding on both sides of her brain as well as injuries to her liver, spleen and ribs. Her two siblings were removed from the mother’s care and placed in protective custody early in the investigation.
