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RIPLEY -- A Jackson County man was charged with one count of child abuse resulting in injury over the weekend, Jackson County Sheriff Ross H. Mellinger said on the Sheriff's Department Facebook page via video Monday.
John Michael Tames, 24, Ripley, was arraigned and brought to the South Central Regional Jail on a $250,000 bond.
Tames is accused of allegedly abusing a 3-month old female. The child was taken to Jackson General Hospital with life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown. She sustained skeletal and cranial fractures, a brain bleed, and bilateral retinal hemorrhaging through multiple layers.
Mellinger said that the staff at Ruby Memorial Hospital said that death is imminent and the outlook is not good.
As the case moves forward, if the child's status changes, so will the charges of the case at hand, he said.
"I want to give kudos to a couple people involved in this case, first of all, Sgt. Jamie Hart of Ripley PD. He was the first to arrive on the scene, which was outside of city limits, and transported the child in his cruiser to the ER," said Mellinger. "He is a hero and so is the staff at Jackson General, they were able to retain a pulse from the child.
"We will continue to stay in contact with the medical staff and continue to work aggressively to build the best case we can to prosecute Mr. Tames to the best of our ability. These cases are exceptionally hard where folks have to sever personal feelings from professional responsibilities," Mellinger stated. "From a professional standpoint, we want to build the best case possible, and from a personal standpoint, as much as we want karma to run its course, we have to stay steadfast in being professional and that's what we intend on doing."
Mellinger concluded by asking for any and all prayers to be sent up by everyone for the child involved in this case.
"We are going to focus on the health and well being of this baby, she needs the greatest of prayers from everyone right now and send up as many as you can muster up," he said. "If we receive any updates, we will let the public know accordingly."