Alleged assault on 3-month-old draws indictment

MAT-SU — A Palmer grand jury charged a Wasilla man Thursday with two assault charges and two charges of sexual abuse of a minor relating to his 3-month-old child.

Keir McGee-Vermont, 20, called his fiancé Feb. 19 to say he’d shaken his daughter and was planning to call 911 then shoot himself, Alaska State Troopers report. Troopers went to McGee-Vermont’s home and later arrested him for assault.

According to an affidavit investigator William Zamora filed with the case, the baby was taken to Mat-Su Regional Medical Center, then transferred to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.

Zamora writes that at 4:25 a.m. Feb. 20, a nurse in Anchorage reported the baby had “anal and vaginal trauma.” According to Zamora’s affidavit, the child also had a brain injury, swelling around the eyes and a tongue laceration. Her left eye wandered and was not synchronized with the right eye.

In an interview with investigators reported in Zamora’s affidavit, McGee-Vermont said he’d been stressed out over financial matters. The baby was crying and he shook her and threw her into her crib, where she bounced off the railings. McGee-Vermont also told investigators he tried to swab blood from the child’s mouth and nose and tried to revive her with CPR and by putting her in a cold, shallow bath and holding her up to the cold air coming from his freezer.

Sgt. Mike Burkmire, Zamora’s supervisor, said in a previous interview that McGee-Vermont told investigators he’d taken a parenting class that recommended using cold air and water to revive a child. Burkmire said he’d never heard of that method.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.