The opinion
Kenneth S. Hixson, Judge, dissenting.
It is hard to disagree with anything in the majority opinion—except the last sentence. As you read the majority opinion or this dissent, count: one—two—three-four—five—six—seven—eight—nine— ten—eleven—twelve—thirteen—fourteen—fifteen. That is the number of stairs that the one-month infant tumbled and bounced down in a car seat to the gravel parking lot below in the rain at 5:00 a.m., leaving gravel, dust, and dirt on his face and forehead and causing the baby to 17later have fixed eyes and vomit. Instead of even walking down the stairs to check on the infant, the mother chose to continue her altercation upstairs with the drunk father. The mother testified: “I failed to go down the stairs immediately, but I looked at my child, I seen my child. He was setting there and he was perfectly okay. The car seat was still sitting up.” While the tumble may have been an accident, the conduct of the mother before and after was neglect. I would reverse and remand for further proceedings to include appropriate services to protect the children and assist Lewis with her parenting skills.
Murphy, J., joins.