IN COURT — Shayla Oxley and her attorney, Bruce Clark, listen during Tuesday’s hearing in Steubenville Municipal Court. -- Linda Harris

STEUBENVILLE — A 20-year-old Steubenville woman charged with hitting her month-old baby two weeks ago will remain in the Jefferson County jail, at least for now.

Municipal Judge John Mascio Jr. found probable cause Tuesday to send the child endangerment case against Shayla Oxley, 967 Sherman Ave., to the Jefferson County grand jury.

Mascio also refused to reduce Oxley’s $100,000 bond he’d ordered when she was taken into custody Jan. 24, despite pleas from her attorney, Bruce Clark, who argued that, “despite the nature of the charges, the purpose of bond is not to begin punishing defendants.”

“She’s local, she’s not a flight risk,” Clark said. “I understand it’s an F2 (felony 2) charge, but I think the court’s aware these types of cases are somewhat complicated. I think the court understands she’s presumed innocent … but I don’t think she’s a threat to society should her bond be lowered.”

Assistant Prosecutor Steve Lamatrice, though, labeled Oxley “a threat to the general population” and pointed out the child had been beaten, “had bruising on his face” and a brain bleed when he arrived at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

He also pointed out Oxley could face up to eight years in prison if she’s convicted.

“I understand the presumption of innocence, but the evidence is overwhelming,” Lamatrice said. “If you’re willing to do this to a 1-month-old child. If you can do that to a child you gave birth to, you can do it to anyone.”

Mascio agreed, telling Clark that while his client is presumed innocent at this point, “the evidence against her does appear to be strong.”

“I think the $100,000 bond is appropriate,” he said.

He also barred Oxley from attempting to see the child without the approval of Jefferson County Children Services, though Lamatrice said that likely will not be a problem. The baby is in foster care and he said it’s unlikely she’ll be allowed to see him.

Earlier, Steubenville Police Sgt. Ryan Lulla had testified that Oxley initially told him she’d been with the baby most of the day and was at a friend’s house when he became inconsolable.

“She feeds him but can’t stop him from crying,” he said. “They decide go go the store to get some (medicine) but once they’re in the car the child produces blood from his mouth.”

Initially, Lulla said Oxley told him she was holding the baby “and turns and taps his head on the wall, she described it as a light tap.” He said the friend told him essentially the same thing, but at the hospital he learned the child’s face was bruised and local physicians believed he had multiple brain bleeds.

He said the following day another of her friends produced a photo of the baby earlier in the day with none of the bruising, and said when Oxley started getting upset, she shot a video on her cell phone which she turned over to police.

“In the video she asked (Oxley) if she did anything to the baby,” he said. “She finally said she did strike him in the head.”

“Did she say why?” Lamatrice asked.

“She claimed she did not want the child,” Lulla testified.

Lulla said when he interviewed Oxley a second time, she told him she “placed her baby on her bed and he rolled off at some point, striking his head on the floor or sidetable or both,” but the doctors in Pittsburgh told him a month-old baby cannot roll over on its own.

He said Oxley was taken into custody and interviewed a third time.

“I asked her to simulate how she was holding the child when she accidentally struck his head,” he testified. “She asked if she could speak with me alone. She tells me she just wants to tell me the truth and tells me she physically struck the baby and asked for help.”

Doctors at Children’s Hospital concluded the baby had “extensive bruising on a large area of his face, extending to his hairline, at least two areas of acute cortical hemorrhaging on his head consistent with direct trauma to the head” and said if he was returned to his home environment “without specific intervention, he is at risk of death.”

The baby was hospitalized in Pittsburgh for about five days, Lulla said. “As of now there are no signs of long-term effects,” he said, though they’re recommending followups with a neurologist as well as a clinic they provide.