Toddler

A 2-year-old girl with burns was taken to Meritus Medical Center on Saturday afternoon, authorities said Sunday. The case is being forwarded to the Hagerstown Police Department’s Criminal Investigations Division, police said. 911 was notified at 2:05 p.m. Saturday of a burn patient at the Dagmar Hotel at 50 Summit Ave. in downtown Hagerstown, a 911 supervisor said. — Julie E. Greene

A Toyota Echo heading northbound on Leitersburg Pike overturned in the 19700 block between Longmeadow Road and Marsh Pike on Tuesday morning, Trooper David Matthews of the Maryland State Police said. The driver of the car swerved off the road and steered too hard the other way to correct it.  The vehicle overturned, crossed the road and landed off the southbound side, Matthews said. The driver and a child between one and two years old were the only two people in the car, and neither was injured, Matthews said.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Martinsburg toddler who fell from a third-story apartment window last Wednesday has been upgraded to serious condition at Fairfax (Va.) Hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman. Megan Mills, 2, of 7331/2 Winchester Ave., had been in critical condition after she fell about 20 feet onto concrete, officials said.

LEWISTOWN, Md. - A 2-year-old Emmitsburg boy drowned Christmas day in a pond at a family member's home, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office reported. "Apparently he walked off while they were out in the yard playing," Sgt. Scot Hopkins said Thursday night. He said the toddler's death was being investigated as an accidental drowning. Hopkins said the boy's name was not being released until all members of the family were contacted. The call came in at 11:50 a.m., according to Frederick County Emergency Services.

A 4-year-old reported missing at about 5 p.m. Monday was found walking on the railroad tracks in the Halfway area at about 7:30 p.m., according to a Hagerstown Police Department news release. The child's mother noticed the boy missing from her Noland Village home at about 1 p.m., police said. She searched the neighborhood, police said. At 5 p.m., the boy's father called police to say the child was missing. Officers found him unharmed and returned him to his father, police said.

Preparing your toddler for reading Teaching your child - By Lisa Tedrick Prejean Sarah Miller of Hagerstown recently sent an e-mail asking how parents can prepare a toddler for reading. Miller says her 2-year-old daughter, Grace, is expressing interest in letters and words. After receiving an alphabet puzzle for her birthday in October, Grace brought it to her mother and said, "I want to learn my letters. " Miller has been reading aloud to her daughter and working on letter recognition, but wants to know what the next step should be. She's heard about "Hooked on Phonics" and wonders if the program is worth the $300 investment.

Washington County Child Protective Services has been called to investigate an incident in which a 2-year-old girl was burned Saturday afternoon at the Dagmar Hotel in Hagerstown, Police Chief Arthur Smith said. Smith said Monday morning that an initial investigation showed the girl was burned by accident when she stuck her hand in hot food, but child services was called as a precaution. “On something like that, you have to be careful,” Smith said. He said the child’s name wouldn’t be released until the investigation is completed.

CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A 2-year-old boy suffered injuries to his torso and head Tuesday, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department. Deputies were notified at 3:30 p.m. about the incident, which is believed to have occurred at Willow Spring Farm Apartments along U.S. 340 east of downtown, said Lt. Dave Colbert. The boy was flown to a hospital, but it was not clear which one, according to Colbert. Colbert said he did not know if the boy's injuries were life-threatening.

A toddler playing with a cigarette lighter caused a fire that damaged a house on North Locust Street last week, Hagerstown Fire Marshal Tom Brown said Wednesday. A 2-year-old boy found a lighter and accidentally set fire to bedding in his mother's room at 242 1/2 N. Locust St., Brown said. The fire severely damaged the second floor of the duplex and injured the boy's 5-year-old brother, who was treated at Washington County Hospital for smoke inhalation. Brown said that Mike Weller, the Hagerstown Fire Department's public education officer, has spoken with family at least three times since the fire.

Firefighters responded Saturday afternoon to a fire that sent four people to the hospital, said Chief Kevin Barnes of Rescue Hose Co. 1 in Greencastle. The fire was reported at 4:43 p.m. in the 2000 block of Buchanan Trail East, Barnes said. A volunteer firefighter who had been passing by managed to get a 2-year-old out of the building before the rest of the firefighters arrived, Barnes said. The toddler was among the two children and two adults taken to area hospitals. As far as Barnes knew, those four were the only people in the home at the time of the fire, he said.

City police in Martinsburg found two young children with bruises and other marks on their bodies while investigating a reported domestic incident early Thursday at a Centre Street residence. One of the children, a 2-year-old, was later determined to have a broken arm as a result of the domestic incident, which police responded to investigate at 2:44 a.m., Martinsburg Police Detective J.D. Luciano said in a news release.  The reported domestic incident led to the arrest of Bradley Walter Price, 36, of 401 Centre St., who was arraigned Thursday on two felony counts of child abuse resulting in injury by Berkeley County Magistrate Harry L. Snow, according to court documents.

A Hagerstown man was sentenced Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court to 40 years in prison for the 2011 death of his girlfriend's 2-year-old son. Brian Michael Miller, 34, formerly of 360 Buena Vista Ave., pleaded guilty Sept. 11 to first-degree child abuse resulting in death and two counts of second-degree felony child abuse in the death of Logan Sellers. Circuit Judge John H. McDowell sentenced Miller to the maximum of 30 years for first-degree child abuse resulting in death and added 10 more years for one of the second-degree child abuse convictions.

The trial for two people charged in the New Year's Day death of a 3-year-old boy was reset for April 1, 2013, to give experts for the state time to evaluate one of the defendants and to review a file in an abuse and neglect proceeding. James N. Mauldin, 21, and Jasmine K. Dawkins, 23, were indicted in May on one count of death of a child by parent, guardian and/or custodian by child abuse, two counts of gross child neglect creating substantial risk of serious bodily injury and one count of presentation of false information regarding a child's injuries in the death of Kaiwon Connelly.

Monday, Nov. 5 Professional Learning Day - no school for students Hagerstown Business and Professional Women's Club meets at Hager Hall, Crystal Ballroom, 5:30 p.m. networking, 6 p.m. dinner. For more information, call membership chair Donna Smith at 301-797-8761. Long Meadows Rotary meets at Nick's Airport Inn, 6:15 p.m. Clear Spring Lions Club meets at Clear Spring American Legion, 6:30 p.m. West Hagerstown Lions Club meets at Washington Square United Methodist Church, 538 Washington Ave., 6:30 p.m. Boonsboro Town Council meets at Community Building in Shafer Park, 7 p.m. Keedysville Town Council meets at Town Hall building, 7 p.m. Sharpsburg Town Council meets at Town Hall, 7:30 p.m. The Mason-Dixon Chorus meets every Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Haven Lutheran Church in Hagerstown.

A Hagerstown man charged in the death of a 2-year-old boy last year pleaded guilty Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to a charge of first-degree child abuse resulting in death. Brian Michael Miller, 34, formerly of 360 Buena Vista Ave., also pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child abuse. Miller initially was charged with 16 counts, including first-degree murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter in the death of Logan Sellers. Most of those charges were dropped under the plea agreement.

A 4-year-old reported missing at about 5 p.m. Monday was found walking on the railroad tracks in the Halfway area at about 7:30 p.m., according to a Hagerstown Police Department news release. The child's mother noticed the boy missing from her Noland Village home at about 1 p.m., police said. She searched the neighborhood, police said. At 5 p.m., the boy's father called police to say the child was missing. Officers found him unharmed and returned him to his father, police said.

A Hagerstown woman who was injured with her 3-year-old son in a fatal traffic accident Monday night on Eastern Boulevard remained hospitalized Wednesday. Denise Baez, 22, was listed in critical condition at R Adams Shock Trauma Medical Center in Baltimore, a hospital spokeswoman said. Her son, Yesiel Baez, was a patient at Children's National Medical Center inWashington, D.C., but his medical condition was unknown, according to Washington County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Carly Hose.

Antonio Prophet testified Thursday in Berkeley County Circuit Court that two armed men, one with a gun and the other with a knife, were responsible for the June 2010 deaths of Angela Devonshire and her 3-year-old son, for which he is on trial. Prophet, 36, of Lorton, Va., was indicted in February 2011 on two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson in the deaths of Devonshire, 22, of Bunker Hill, W.Va., and her son, Andre White. Their bodies were found the morning of June 6, 2010, in the charred remains of her Cape Cod-style apartment, which was intentionally set on fire, according to an assistant state fire marshal.

A head injury to a 22-month-old girl last month led police to charge a 23-year-old woman with abuse and neglect, according to Berkeley County Magistrate Court records. Krystal Lynn McLaughlin of no fixed address was arraigned Monday by Magistrate JoAnn Overington on two counts of child abuse resulting in injury, one count of child neglect creating risk of injury and one count of child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, according to court documents. Police said in court documents that McLaughlin admitted to striking the girl's buttocks area four times with a laptop computer power cord on June 18 while her husband was at work.

Two people charged in the New Year's Day death of a 3-year-old boy pleaded not guilty to multiple counts at their arraignment Tuesday in Berkeley County Circuit Court. James N. Mauldin, 20, and Jasmine K. Dawkins, 23, were indicted last month by a Berkeley County grand jury on one count of death of a child by parent, guardian and/or custodian by child abuse, two counts of gross child neglect creating substantial risk of serious bodily injury and one count of presentation of false information regarding a child's injuries in the death of Kaiwon Connelly, according to the indictment.