Bianca Rivera Lima, (Hall County Department of Corrections, Courtesy)
GRAND ISLAND — A Grand Island woman, Bianca Rivera Lima, who was arrested for child abuse after an infant boy was found to not be breathing on Monday, April 22 is facing amended charges after the infant died.
Around 4:34 p.m., officers with the Grand Island Police Department responded to a residence on E. 16th St. in reference to a medical emergency involving a child.
The first officers on scene advised that the child was not breathing when they arrived. The infant was flown to Children’s Nebraska, the pediatric hospital and medical center in Omaha.
Life support was removed from the child over the weekend and the child succumbed to injuries suffered in the original incident. The investigation is still on going and results of the autopsy ordered by the Hall County Attorney, will not be available for several weeks, according to Captain Dean Elliot with the GIPD.
According to a GIPD probable cause statement, officers reported to 319 E. 16th St. regarding a 2-month-old child who was not breathing. Rivera Lima was caring for the child in her daycare while the child’s parents were at work.
“The child was flown to Children’s Hospital in Omaha ‘where he had extreme bleeding around the brain and retinal hemorrhaging. The child has not displayed any movement or signs of life” since being transported to CHI/St. Francis.
The medical professionals in Omaha reported that the injuries were from severe shaking and/or a “slamming. They also said that the injuries were intentional. Rivera Lima was the only adult with the child during the time of the injury. She also delayed a call to 911 for an unknown reason.
Rivera Lima was born in Guatemala, the probable cause statement said.
The Hall County Attorney’s Office is amending the original charge of Child Abuse resulting in Serious Bodily Injury, to Child Abuse Resulting in Death.
Lima’s bail has been set at $1 million, a preliminary hearing is at 10:15 a.m. May 23.
