Man charged with assaulting 3-month-old

Published 1:09 pm Wednesday, September 5, 2012

By CHRISTINE BOATWRIGHT / Staff Writer

CALERA – A Calera man was arrested Aug. 30 and charged with aggravated assault against a 3-month-old boy.

Tremaine Vanteas Gates, 24, was looking after the victim Aug. 25. Gates allegedly “slammed into (the) corner of the wall and threw to hard floor of the residence” the child, according to court records.

Tremaine Gates.

The child’s mother returned to the residence on the morning of Aug. 26 to find the child “not acting like his normal self,” as he could only open one eye, and was acting extremely lethargic and whimpering in an atypical fashion, according to court records.

The woman took her child to Shelby Baptist Medical Center, and the child was lifeflighted to Children’s Hospital, according to court records. Physicians determined the child has a fractured skull, and the child’s prognosis is “grave at this time,” the court record stated.

On Sept. 7, Calera Police Chief Sean Lemley said, as far as he is aware, the child is still alive.

A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 26 at 8:30 a.m. in front of Circuit Judge Dan Reeves.

Gates is currently being held in the Shelby County Jail on a $1 million bond.