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.
