A sick hospital nurse is accused of beating a 4-month-old baby girl who was born prematurely, leaving her badly battered just before she was finally set to be sent home, police said.
Kieran Ansley, 43, a nurse at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, allegedly assaulted the baby, who was found by her mother with broken leg bones and bruises on her hands, arms, thigh, buttocks, abdomen and even her tongue.
“The totality of the findings resulted in a diagnosis of pediatric physical abuse,” officials allege in court documents obtained by WOOD-TV.
The baby girl was born in November 2025 four months premature, family members said.
After months at the ICU, the infant was finally scheduled to go home in April when she was found battered.
“She was born at 23 weeks: 1 pound, 1 ounce,” grandfather Robert Steavens told WOOD-TV. “And she made it through her due date, ready to go home. And then two days before she was ready to go home, this happened.”
The baby girl’s mother had visited her daughter at the hospital the night of April 2 and returned the following morning around 6:30 a.m.
But as she approached the baby’s room in the neonatal intensive care unit, Ansley allegedly “got up from his seat and ‘jogged’ to cut them off before getting to the room, telling them that the infant had ‘slept through the night,’” court documents state.
She noticed the child’s tongue appeared alarmingly “blue and almost black” — but Ansley assured her that this was normal and “not a big deal.”
The mom also noticed several bruises that were not there the night before, and notified hospital staff who launched an investigation, according to court documents.
A log revealed that there were 32 instances in which someone entered the baby’s room overnight, 27 of which were Ansley. The rest were other nurses, who when interviewed said the baby showed no signs of trauma.
One staffer said that Ansley “seemed flustered and a little bit frustrated with his assignment for the night” and others described him as “scatterbrained” and “in over his head.”
Ansley was arrested earlier this month and charged with four counts of child abuse but remains free on bond. As a condition of his release, he must wear an electronic tracking device, according to WOOD-TV.
Hospital officials confirmed that Ansley had been fired after the allegations.
He’s scheduled to appear in court next in November.
The baby girl, now 10 months old, is at home in Caledonia and “doing wonderful,” Steavens said.
“Absolutely amazing. Right?” he said. “We’ve been blessed and we’ve watched the baby grow. We’re trusting in God and healing as a family and trusting the process will move forward.”
