A Gainesville man arrested on an aggravated child abuse charge was found unconscious in his Alachua County Jail cell Saturday night after trying to hang himself with a bedsheet.
Austin Piper Dionne, 22, was rushed to UF Health Shands Hospital after Alachua County jail officials found him at about 9:45 p.m., said Alachua County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Art Forgey.
Dionne was arrested Friday afternoon after an investigation alleged he shook a 3-week-old child several times Sept. 19 when he became upset playing Xbox, according to a sheriff’s office arrest report.
On that afternoon, Dionne’s wife went to work and left Dionne at home with the child and a 10-month-old sibling.
At about 9 p.m., Dionne called his wife and told her something had happened to the baby. Dionne’s wife told him to hang up and call 911.
Dionne called and told dispatch the baby had fallen out of a rocking chair. An ambulance arrived at the house, located in the 1900 block of Southwest 69th Drive, and drove the baby to Shands, according to the report.
A report was later submitted to the Child Protection Team because Dionne’s story wasn’t consistent with the baby’s injuries.
The following day, deputies arrived at the hospital to investigate, according to the report. The baby was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with severe injuries, including bleeding to the brain, and had a handprint on his side.
At the hospital, Dionne told investigators he accidentally kicked over a chair while trying to push away a cat nipping at the baby’s feet. The chair fell on the baby, and Dionne said he shook the child to keep him from losing consciousness, according to the report.
Investigators met with Dionne on Friday for a follow-up interview at the sheriff’s office. Dionne admitted to hurting the child and lying about his previous stories.
Dionne told police he became frustrated with the baby’s crying while playing Xbox. He kicked the child’s seat, and the baby started crying more, according to the report. Dionne then said he flipped the chair over, causing the child to fall on his head and the chair to fall on top of the child.
Dionne said he started shaking the child to keep him conscious, according to the report.
Deputies arrested him on a charge of aggravated child abuse. He was booked into jail with a $1 million bond.
Forgey said Dionne’s condition at Shands is undetermined. He added that the investigation surrounding the hanging is ongoing.
A version of this story ran on page 4 on 9/30/2013 under the headline "Man with $1 million bond tries to hang self after abuse charges"
