Metro

A Breezewood woman accused of failing to provide follow-up medical care for her juvenile son who suffered a spinal injury is behind bars in Bedford County.

Annessa Stahlman, 44, was arraigned Thursday by Magisterial District Judge Kevin R. Diehl on a single felony count of endangering the welfare of children and a single misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person.

She was remanded to the Bedford County Correctional Facility in lieu of $150,000 bail. Her preliminary hearing is set for May 28 before Diehl.

According to court documents, Stahlman’s 11-year-old son was involved in a dirt bike accident at the Breezewood Proving Grounds on April 13.

Stahlman took the boy to UPMC Bedford emergency room, where Emergency Room staff found he had blood pooling in the space between his brainstem and back of his skull, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

Doctors recommended the juvenile wear a neck brace at all times and be taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh by ambulance, but Stahlman signed him out against medical advice, stating she would drive him to Pittsburgh.

When he left the hospital, the boy was wearing a neck brace and had an I.V., the report states.

Children’s Hospital called UPMC Bedford on April 14 to inform them that the victim never appeared.

It was discovered, when the boy’s father was notified of the situation, that he was unaware of his son’s diagnosis and told officers the boy was at school. The victim was located without his neck brace and flown from the school to the Children’s Hospital, where he was admitted for testing, the report states.

Evaluations showed the pooling blood had extended into the victim’s upper cervical spine and that there were other upper spinal irregularities doctors described as “concerning for a high-grade injury.” The victim was diagnosed with a concussion and ordered to wear his neck brace at all times until cleared by neurosurgery, court documents state.

In an April 17 interview, the victim told officers another rider landed on top of him after he wrecked his dirt bike at the Breezewood Proving Grounds, which caused him to hurt badly enough in his neck and head area to want to go to the hospital.

The affidavit states that when the child and Stahlman left the hospital, he told her he wanted to go home. She said OK, removed the I.V. in the hospital parking lot and took him to his dad’s house, where she removed the neck brace.

The juvenile said the pain got worse overnight and he couldn’t fall asleep because his whole head hurt. While he went to school, he threw up in the bathroom and again on the way to the nurse’s office, the report states.

Three juvenile witnesses to the accident and its aftermath told officers the juvenile complained of headaches, was noticeably more tired than usual and had bloodshot eyes. Two of those witnesses said they saw the boy in a neck brace while riding in Stahlman’s vehicle while the third said they saw the I.V. in the vehicle.