Infant hospitalized with multiple injuries, parents arrested

Sumter County Sheriff’s Office charged the parents of a 6-month-old infant with unlawful conduct toward a child on Monday night after the child was found to have suffered multiple injuries, including blunt force trauma to the face and several broken bones.

The Department of Social Services has taken custody of the child who was transported to Palmetto Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia, where it remains in stable condition. Both the child’s mother, 18-year-old Dionna Boatwright of 222 Loring Drive in Sumter, and the child’s father, 22-year-old Christopher Womack of 432 E. Charlotte Ave. in Sumter, have been arrested and each charged with one count of unlawful conduct toward a child.

“The thought of parents assaulting their own child, especially an infant like this, is almost impossible to imagine, and our office will prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law possible,” said Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis.

The felony charge carries with it a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

Both Boatwright and Womack are being held at Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center and potentially face additional charges as the investigation continues.