Babysitter charged with murder after allegedly slamming 3-month-old baby's head

Babysitter charged with murder after allegedly slamming 3-month-old baby’s head

Aug, 10, 2012 | AUTHOR: Billy Devon; | Related : Mug Shots, News

33-year-old Sarah Gumm is being charged with murder after she allegedly got frustrated during a diaper change and slammed the head of 3-month-old Rylan Koopmeiners down on a wooden table.

Baby girl Rylan was at the home of Gumm who was babysitting the infant for her parents, Nathan and Reggan Koopmeiners. According to Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ari Fisz:

“She [Gumm] put the baby down on the table such that she struck her head on the table.”

An autopsy revealed that there was a severe fracture of the skull that was directly responsible for the infant’s death that occurred on July 27.

“It was the medical examiner’s opinion that an extreme amount of force had to have been used to cause that fracture.”

Gumm had been under the employ of the Koopmeiners as a babysitter for 6 weeks before the horrible event took place. She told police that she was hired by the family when they saw her services advertised online. The day of the tragedy they dropped their daughter off as they did each weekday at around 6:45 AM. Rylan was the only child under Gumm’s supervision the day of her death.

At 4:30 PM that afternoon Gumm contacted police and told them that the baby was not breathing. She was rushed to a hospital where she was pronounced dead just a brief time later.

Later that evening when being questioned Gumm stated that she had heard a “gurgling noise” which prompted her phone call. She also contended that she was home all day with the infant but a neighbor stated that she left her premises during the afternoon. Authorities later unearthed two transactions via Gumm’s credit card at the same local drug store, once at 9:30 AM and later at 1:50 PM.

After another interview Fisz states that Gumm admitted to leaving the home as well as causing the injury that lead to the death of the baby. He said:

“She also told police that later in the afternoon the baby was getting very fussy and squirming around while she was trying to change her on a wooden table. She was holding the child up above the table. She got frustrated.”

Yesterday during a court hearing, Gumm asked for more time so that she could hire legal representation. The judge has given her until August 16. She currently is incarcerated at the Lake County Jail in lieu of $3 million bond.

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Diane

There’s a special place in hell for these monsters who hurt harmless, innocent children. I hope a prisoner slams her head into a wall on a daily basis.
- Mandi
  
  I can’t help but notice her crazy eyes. This was a 3 month old baby… they deserve nothing but love & devotion as they do not realize the world around them quite yet, they don’t know anything & deserve NO pain. I hope she is severely punished because taking an innocent life just isn’t right & it will never be okay. She needs to regret & never forget what she has done to this helpless child……
Gwyn

I feel like I don’t want to jump on the hating this woman band wagon. Obviously it’s horrific and this woman deserves a sever punishment. However, I can imagine her getting frustrated and making a mistake that she didn’t intend.
In conclusion, I’m going to hold off on an opinion on this one, until we know more about what happened.
Very sad for the poor girl. RIP Rylan.
- sammi
  
  There is no reason whatsoever to get that angry at a helpless baby that u would slam her head down. If the baby was frustrating her that bad then she shouldnt have been in the babysitting business. Speaking from a mothers point of view, she should have put the baby in the crib safely and walked away for a min or 2 until SHE herself was less agitated. There is a chemical that lets off in the brain when frustration kicks in and we have to then think rationally and remain calm. When we send our kids to a babysitter or with anyone we expect our kids to be handled lovingly and patiently. May God be with the parents.
  - Gwyn
    
    I of course agree that this is horrible, and I am in no way excusing slamming a baby’s head down, but we dont know the full story. Personally I find it odd that the parents left their 3 month old baby with someone they didn’t personally know. That’s a bit besides the point, but anyway.
    She may have been holding the baby while it screamed and then wiggled around, and perhaps she was just trying to keep her still and the angle at which the baby was caused her to hit its head on the table by mistake?
    All I am saying is that this is a small report, that we don’t know the full story, and that she should be able to defend herself before everyone damns her.
    - KAITEY
      
      Babies getting skull fractures are not accidents or mistakes. The “angle” doesn’t matter, it is the force that cracked her skull. Sounds like you need to get your head out of the clouds. This woman should be damned and I hope her and people like her get every bad thing coming their way. Frustration is not an excuse to murder a baby.
      - LOL
        
        Just want to send some love your way. It’s not okay to wish bad things on people like that or be vengeful. You deserve to have a better mindset and I hope you can find the freedom of forgiveness and don’t hold bitterness like this towards people in your personal life either. The only person who suffers is you and you don’t deserve that. Best wishes.
      - Gwyn
        
        As I said before I am reserving my judgement. I know nothing about the situation except that two people will no longer get to live a normal life, and both their families are going to suffer for a very long time. One has sadly died, and the other is going to spend a very long time in prison, or at very least feel guilty about it for years to come. It’s not up to me to judge the babysitter, I’m not going to be on her jury.
        The only thing we can do in this situation is forgive and hope to get some morsel of good out this terrible tradgedy.
      - Mandi
        
        I completely agree Kaitey…
    - Stefani
      
      It isn’t weird that they left their baby with her. They HIRED her as a babysitter and had her as their sitter for 6 weeks before this happened. The last people I nannied for hired me after I posted an ad on craigslist, their baby was also 3 months old and they had no idea who I was beforehand. Not everyone has someone they know who can watch their baby and it’s pretty normal to look on websites for a babysitter.
      
      If you get heated that easily at a baby being squirmish, you shouldn’t take care of babies/children for a living. Sometimes it took me 20 minutes to change her because she wouldn’t stop moving but I NEVER would have been physical with her over that. it’s disgusting and like the person above said, if you do, you put them in their crib and walk away until you calm down.
      
      This is disgusting. Ugh
      - Stefani
        
        Wow I just realized this baby’s parents live in my town. so sad.
      - Gwyn
        
        I would never hire someone from Craigslist to look after one of my children. Especially at such a young age when I’m still getting used to her.
        Thanks @LOL, I agree. People need to calm down and remember that not everyone had the same life they do, and therefore they deal with things differently.
        Again, I AM NOT SAYING WHAT SHE DID WAS OK. because it wasn’t.
  - LOL
    
    Guess what. No one is an angel. Plenty of loving parents like yourself have injured their baby’s in a frustrating moment. It’s good though that you have an understanding of what those frustrating moments are like and how to handle them. It’d be good to educate people you know on that as much as you can to help prevent other babies from getting hurt and prevent parents and caregivers from a lifetime of sorrow and remorse.
- LOL
  
  AMEN. Good for you! So refreshing to see some people not immediately villianizing someone because of a terrible act she did, and actually having some understanding. Guess what, if you express forgiveness and kindness to people who do bad things… that doesn’t mean you support them. It doesn’t mean you think it’s okay what they did at all. It just means you’re a good person and it’s so much better than focusing on the negative. I try to look at the real picture when I hear about stuff like this and not the villianized media standpoint.
  
  Yes she hurt a baby. Yes that’s very wrong. No one can argue that. But we can all be HUMAN about it and remember she’s human too. Although we don’t condone what she did, we can understand that sometimes when you are taking care of a baby, it’s exhausting. The baby is fussy and upset for hours and you keep trying to make her comfortable and take care of her and nothing works. You feel defeated and very frustrated. Not malicious, just overwhelmed. In the heat of the moment, her frustration took over and she hurt the child. This is why shaken baby syndrome exists. It happens with loving parents all the time. It’s not calculated or malicious it’s just weak human beings who sometimes can’t let their emotions simmer or take the time to think clearly when it matters the most.
  
  She should know better how to handle a situation like that when frustrated. She should have had the sense to put the fragility of a little baby before her need to release her emotion, no matter how strong it is. But guess what, nobody is perfect. She did a terrible act. But let’s learn to separate the ACTION from the PERSON. She clearly cares about children if childcare is her profession. She clearly cared about the childs wellbeing too if she got so upset about the baby being unhappy. She was trying to care for the child, the child continued to be unhappy, therefore she felt unaccomplished in her goal and frustrated at the situation. That means she cared about the baby’s well being. End of story. If she didn’t care about the baby, she’d let the baby cry and sit in a messy diaper all day and probably go off and play video games or something.
  
  She’s probably feeling awful about what she did and will have to pay hugely for one moment that got the better of her. I’m sure she has incredible remorse about this and it’s not our place to judge her. Let the court do what the court needs to do but please don’t make vengeful wishes about her, and please don’t villianize her, and please try to think this way everytime you hear about people who do bad things. I guarantee you if this woman were your family member you’d be looking at it the way I am now, and not the way people on an internet comment section are.
  - KAITEY
    
    Umm…she didn’t hurt the baby, she killed her. There’s a difference. There’s a difference in being at your wit’s end and spanking too hard or yelling too loud and bashing a baby’s head in because you can’t handle yourself. As a mother of two small children, I know all about frustration. I can acknowledge that she undoubtedly felt overwhelmed and frustrated, but there is no excuse for taking it that far. Heat of the moment or not. When a child is in your care it is your duty to control yourself and this woman did not. Therefore she deserves any punishment and any trouble said punishment causes her.
    
    All that being said, thanks for the love. I do struggle with forgiveness. Work in progress!
    - Mandi
      
      Kaitey I’m agreeing with you in the 1st place. This was KILLING a baby not injuring a baby. Yea, parents get frustrated as I have 4 babies, but NEVER have I been so upset to slam heads or draw blood shake , hit or anything violent for that matter…
      It’s never ok to even hurt a baby or child. Yes, they cry but I don’t know why LOL is saying that crap, like good parents hurt their babies?????what a joke.I personally would never forgive someone who murdered my baby. Never…..
  - uh
    
    there’s a difference between wanting to see the good in people and EXCUSING terrible behavior. she’s in the childcare business, she absolutely should have known better and has to expect these sort of situations with fussy babies. she didn’t just simply drop the child in frustration, the skull was FRACTURED, that takes a lot of force. if you care about a baby, you don’t let your emotions get the best of you to the point where you are putting that much force on them.
  - wow
    
    This was a 3 month old BABY! pretty much a newborn! do you know how much 3 month old babies weigh? a baby probably weighing, at most 13 pounds squirming doesnt sound like enough of a reason to discourage a grown woman enough to slam it down with enough force to fracture her skull! Well oh maybe it was an accident because she got frustrated? oh ok.. then all those people who snap and murder their wives or husbands or their own children.. we should just seperate those people from their actions too? because I am sure they didn’t MEAN to get frustrated and make a bad decision? Oh and all those drunk drivers who kill innocent people…on ACCIDENT..I am sure those murderers have families, and feel gulty after the fact..so should we feel bad for all these people who commit crimes because they got overwhelmed, and did not think before they acted? I am sure most murderers are “good people” and “feel guilty” but that doesnt mean that they shouldnt have to pay for their crime.
    - wow
      
      And also, if she felt so guilt.. why did she lie when she called 911? and she didnt lie and say anything like “she fell off the bed and hit her head” she lied and said the baby stopped breathing while napping! Maybe if paramedics knew the baby had hit its head they could have done what is needed in that cirmcumstancee! And if she cares so much about kids…why did she leave the house… twice! leaving the baby UNATTENDED? I mean how many “mistakes” can one person make in one afternoon?
nail queen

Is “LOL” on heavy narcotics?? Or sarahs family??

Let’s just say it wasn’t on purpose. Ok, explain why she left to the drugstore two separate times that day? Was that an accident too?

Sarah needs to rot in hell. NOT waste tax payers $ by getting “Life in prison”. Death, rape, and anything involving a child needs the death penalty. End of story.
YouGetWhatYouPayFor

I bet these parents found this woman on craigslist. Probably one of those cheap babysitters. If they loved their baby they should have spent a little money & sent the child to a center where several eyes are watching & background checks are done. Oh & children aren’t left alone either. You get what you pay for. I blame the parents for being lazy & cheap. I blame this nutcase for the murder.
- REALLY??
  
  Before you go assuming things and leaving comments about something you clearly do not have all the information on you should really think about this poor little girls family and what they are going through right now. It is pretty presumptous that you would say they were “lazy and cheap” for hiring a babysitter versus putting her into daycare. Have you seen some of these daycares lately?? or have you read recent articles on how just last week a daycare worker slammed a 2 year old into a wall while on camera and the child ended up dying at the daycare center a few hours later?? I am going to guess by your ignorant respose that it’s a no. And for the record background checks were done. I am pretty sure that when you run someones background that baby murderer does not come across as a red flag. I am just saying think before you speak and how hurtful your comments can come across.
how sad

Sarah Gumm should have walked away and taken 3 minutes to calm down, never handle a baby when angry,
so sad and tragic how one fit of Rage , just a few seconds can kill someone.
I wonder if Sarah Gumm was on some kind of drugs, even presciption pain killers. those can make a person angry over little things

Please keep the parents of Rylan in prayer