photo by Brent McDonald, See Video on NewsChannel 9
A viral baby shaking video that a county detective said "caused a public outcry" was played in court on Tuesday.
After watching the four-second video, General Sessions Court Judge Larry Ables bound charges of aggravated child abuse and aggravated assault against Ricky Casey to the Grand Jury.
Detective Jody Taylor said the Sheriff's Office began to get hundreds of calls after the mother of Casey's children posted the September 2020 video involving their four-month-old child on Facebook in July.
He said the video shows "a child being violently shaken."
Detective Taylor said the initial plan was to take the case to the Grand Jury, but he said there were a number of threats against Casey so he was taken into custody on Aug. 5. He has been in jail since then.
He said Casey gave an interview in which he said the incident with his daughter took place at a location on Dayton Boulevard at a time when he was having anger issues. He said he now has that problem under control, and there have been no further such incidents.
He said there was no indication that the child suffered injury, though he said Child Protective Services is checking that out. He said Child Protective Services was already looking into a situation with the family regarding one of the couple's four children wandering away from home.
The witness said the mother turned over to him the original video from her Snapchat Memories.
Attorney Jon Mahlum said it appeared in the video that Casey was holding the child's neck securely so that it would not fly around and be more prone to cause injury.
He said both charges should be dismissed because there was no proof the child had been injured.
The attorney also asked that the $110,000 bond be lowered, saying that the family is dependent on Casey supporting them. He said Casey has been working with the same construction firm for several years.
Judge Ables kept the bond the same and said he should have no contact with his daughter. He said should he get out he would need to wear a GPS ankle bracelet.