A North Georgia man who repeatedly abused his infant daughter was sentenced to two decades in prison after he admitted throwing the child to the floor and squeezing her so hard that he fractured her ribs, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Timothy Lee Hatmaker, 29, of Villa Rica, pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to children and one count of aggravated battery in the child abuse case, Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney Herb Cranford said.
The investigation began in March 2019 when Carroll County deputies were called to Tanner Medical Center in response to a 6-month-old with severe injuries, prosecutors said.
When they arrived, deputies learned Hatmaker’s daughter had been taken to the hospital after suffering seizures. She was later moved to a Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta location, where doctors treated her for brain bleeds and retinal hemorrhages, authorities said. She was also found to have healing rib fractures, Cranford said in a news release.
“During the course of the investigation, Hatmaker admitted that his daughter had been crying and he threw her down onto the ground, after which she began screaming and seizing,” prosecutors said. “He also admitted that about two months prior, while she was crying, he squeezed the child around her chest, that being consistent with the healing injuries observed.”
Hatmaker’s trial was set to begin later this month, but he pleaded guilty Thursday, authorities said. He was given a 30-year-sentence, with the first 20 years to be served behind bars.
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