Child Abuse Victim Returns Home With Tulsa Mother

A little girl who doctors say is the victim of abuse is out of the hospital and back home with her mother.

MaAliyah Shanklin’s father was arrested in July after Amanda Shanklin took her little girl to the ER where they discovered a skull fracture and blood and fluid on her daughter's brain.

Cornelius Prince is charged with child abuse and is in the Tulsa County jail on a $250,000. He's accused of shaking his 4-month-old daughter so hard she's now blind and has brain trauma.

6/22/2015 Related Story: Tulsa Man Accused Of Shaking 4 Month Old Arrested In Cushing

MaAliyah still has the scars on top of her head where doctors had to drill holes in her skull to relieve the swelling.

Even though she’s now 5 months old, she acts more like a newborn.

"They said it was the worst case of shaken baby syndrome they've seen," MaAliyah’s mother, Amanda said.

Around 11:30 the night of July 17th, Amanda came home and her daughter was whining and limp; her husband, Cornelius, had been the only one home with MaAliyah and their 3-year-old son.

"I'm checking everything, her whole body, taking her temperature, feeding her, I didn't know what was going on so at 3:30 in the morning I couldn't take it anymore and took her to the ER," Amanda said.

That's when doctors told her it was the worst case of shaken baby they'd ever seen. MaAliyah had a skull fracture, needed surgery and was in the hospital for three weeks.

Amanda said her husband has given several stories for what happened.

"One is my son, one is she fell off the couch, one is she was born with brain damage. But we left the hospital two days after she was born and she was perfect," she said.

Amanda said she feels terrible guilt because her husband had assaulted her in 2010 - strangled her and got probation, but then violated that probation and went to prison for ten months. He got out right after MaAliyah was born and she took him back.

"We all have pasts. I have a horrible past, but that's my past. I let God in my life and I believe in faith and change, so of course I was not going to give up on my husband. He's telling me he'll go to church with me and everything is going to change and be right, so yeah, I let him back," she said.

Now, Amanda wants him to go to prison for the rest of his life because their daughter's life is changed forever.

Cornelius Shanklin has pleaded not guilty and is due in court. His wife has been called to testify against him.