In re M.D. CA3

BACKGROUND

On October 25, 2023, the Sacramento County Department of Child, Family, and Adult Services (Department) filed dependency petitions alleging that Ma.D. (then five weeks old) and Mi.D. (then four years old): (1) had suffered, or were at substantial risk of suffering, serious physical harm inflicted nonaccidentally by a parent or guardian (§ 300, subd. (a)); (2) had suffered, or were at substantial risk of suffering, serious physical harm as a result of the failure or inability of a parent or guardian to supervise or protect them (§ 300, subd. (b)(1)); and (3) were at substantial risk of being abused or neglected because their sibling had been abused or neglected (§ 300, subd. (j)). The petitions alleged that on October 22, 2023, a child abuse specialist examined Ma.D. at a medical center and found injuries that included bilateral subdural hematomas, retinal hemorrhaging, intravenous bleeding inside of the ventricles, sub arachnoid hemorrhaging, and ongoing seizures. The specialist reported that “retinal hemorrhaging in a five-week- old baby is most specifically associated with abusive head trauma or shaking.” The petitions alleged that parents did not have a “trauma…