Brooks, Jr. set to be in court this week
Charles Edwin Brooks, Jr., 29, of Atlanta, is set to appear in court this week, November 10, Brooks was taken into custody Monday, May 3, at 3:38 p.m. by Dallas County Sheriffs and charged with Injury to Child/Elderly/Disabled with Intent to cause Severe Bodily Injury and Serious Mental Deficiency or Impairment. This is a first-degree felony under Texas Penal Code 22.04, punishable by a maximum sentence of 99 years or life in prison and/ or a maximum fine of $10,000. According to the court, his lawyer for Brooks will meet with the prosecutor on his behalf.
An investigation was opened, resulting in an arrest warrant being issued on April 30. After a three-day search, the suspect was taken into custody, with a $250,000 bond, which then the suspect bonded out.
A source close to the family tells the Journal-Sun that the two-year-old victim sustained serious injuries while under the care of Brooks at his Dallashome. Brooks, the child’s stepfather, claims the child fell down the stairs.
Upon arriving via ambulance at Dallas Medical City Hospital, doctors found evidence of abuse, including a severe brain bleed with swelling and adult bite marks on the child's legs.
The victim was immediately placed in Critical ICU under a medically induced coma to allow the brain swelling to lessen. The child remained in the coma as doctors slowly began to wean the sedation.
At the time, it was reported that "he is still on medication to keep his blood pressure up; still on the ventilator. Still has the drain in his brain. Still continuously monitoring his brain waves and intracranial pressure. Vital signs are a little more stable, but everything is still up and down depending on how much stimulation he is receiving," our source tells us. "He is on antibiotics and antifungal medication; they’ve been able to wean the oxygen and ventilator is giving him down to 30 and we are hopeful and prayerful that his vital signs and intracranial pressures will continue responding well as they attempt to wean him from the sedation and blood pressure medication," according to the same source.
The victim’s mother and Brooks were married in January and this was the first time that he and the child had been alone for an extended time without the mother present, our source said. That source went on to say that Brooks had driven with the child from his home in Atlanta to his other home in Dallas after picking him up at his grandparents’ house.
It was also reported then by the source that the mother had planned to drive to Dallas after leaving work that day, but when she called to check on them, Brooks allegedly told her the child had fallen down the stairs. The mother immediately called 911 and went directly to the hospital.
Carmen Sampson, the grandmother of the child recently gave the Journal-Sun an update. “Blake was originally on life support in Dallas, with injuries to his medulla, cortex, and brain stem, as well as lesions all over his brain. He is now in Little Rock Children's Hospital. He can show some emotion but struggles immensely on a daily basis. We, the family, are continuing to pray for a miracle for full restoration, but know Blake has a very long road to recovery.”
Brooks, who has lived in the area and has family ties here, currently is out of jail. This is an ongoing story that the Journal-Sun will contin
This is an ongoing story that the Journal-Sun will continue to follow through this investigation. This is an update to the article originally published in the May 5th edition of the Journal-Sun.