Baby in vegetative state after being shaken by sitter, authorities say

BONITA SPRINGS, Fla. – Florida investigators say a 5-month-old boy is not expected to survive after suffering severe abuse by his babysitter.

According to the Lee County Sheriff's Office the boy's mother dropped him off with a friend, 24-year-old Maria Antonio Jose, in Bonita Springs.

Around noon, Jose called the boy's mother and told her the baby had stopped breathing after he choked on milk.

Doctors said the baby suffered a diffused axonal injury, a form of traumatic brain injury that happens with the brain rapidly shifts inside the skull. The baby also had extensive retinal hemorrhaging as well as a ripped right eye retina.

When questioned by detectives, Jose stuck to her original story of the baby choking on milk, but when they confronted her about the extensive damage suffered to his brain, Jose admitted that she shook him for about two minutes when he wouldn't stop crying.

"It's really sad and difficult as a father. It hurts me a lot because my son is so loving. He's never upset. He's loving with us," the baby's father, Jesus Francisco said.

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