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Last updated on Wednesday, September 16, 2015
(FRANKLIN) - A Franklin man told investigators he was afraid that he had injured his 7-month-old daughter after throwing her “too hard” down onto her crib mattress, according to court documents filed Monday.
Johnson County prosecutors formally charged Christopher Michael Potts, 20, in the September 3 death of his daughter, Felicity Anderson. Potts faces a charge of battery resulting in the death of a person less than 14 years old.
Franklin Police began investigating the case after being called to Johnson Memorial Hospital September 3, where Felicity had been pronounced dead. Detectives interviewed Potts about what happened. According to court documents, Potts first told investigators he had dropped Felicity into her crib from about one foot above the mattress. He later admitted to throwing the baby down onto the mattress.
"Michael was further asked 'How hard do you think you threw her on the bed?' and he replied, 'Too hard,'" court documents read.
Potts told investigators he was worried that he may have hurt Felicity after throwing her down. He went to the bathroom and came back to check on her about 20 minutes later. By that time, Felicity's lips had turned blue and she had baby formula coming out her nose and mouth. Potts was performing CPR on Felicity when emergency medics arrived at the apartment.
"The pathologist indicated that there was blunt force trauma causing a skull fracture and that he was ruling it as a homicide," said Franklin Police Detective Adam Joseph. "We don't have evidence to support that she was thrown against a wall. Evidence we have to support is that she was thrown down onto a mattress."
Potts told investigators he had been feeling a lot of financial stress and frustration, sharing an apartment with Felicity's mother, who works nights, and Felicity's grandfather.
Potts was in the Johnson County Jail as his daughter was laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memory Gardens in Greenwood Monday. His initial court appearance had not been scheduled as of late Monday, but it was expected to happen sometime next week.
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