On February 27, 2026, Defendant Alex Lawson, 34, of Havre de Grace, pled guilty to First Degree Child Abuse (Severe Physical Injury) and Second Degree Child Abuse. He was sentenced to forty (40) years suspend all but twenty-two (22) years to serve in the Division of Corrections. Upon his release from incarceration, he will be on five (5) years of supervised probation. The Defendant is the father of the victim, who is now eleven months old.
Facts presented in support of the plea showed that on June 24, 2025, Harford County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to a call for service involving a 12-week-old baby girl in cardiac arrest. The baby was rushed to Upper Chesapeake Hospital and was subsequently flown to Nemours Children’s Hospital for further lifesaving treatment. It was discovered that she suffered from bilateral subdural hemorrhaging on her brain, bleeding on both sides of her brain, an occipital fracture, a skull fracture, a hemorrhage in her spine, and too numerous retinal hemorrhages to count. The medical team identified all these injuries as non-accidental trauma. She was intubated and remained in Nemours Children’s Hospital until July 11, 2025, where she also suffered from seizures as a result of the trauma she endured from the Defendant.
Harford County Sheriff’s Office Detective Scurto, who is assigned to the Child Advocacy Center, conducted an investigation. The evidence showed that the Defendant abused the victim on several occasions while alone with her. The abuse included the Defendant violently shaking the victim between his legs, causing her head to forcefully bounce back and forth between his knees, whipping her with a swaddling blanket, and throwing her onto a pillow causing her body to violently bounce. In addition, the Defendant picked the victim up by one leg and flipped her over before tossing her onto the sofa and also pushed and bent her body in half before carrying her. As a direct result of the Defendant’s assaults and abuse, the victim has permanent physical injury, although the exact extent of those injuries is not fully known at this time.
Following the conviction, State’s Attorney Alison M. Healey issued the following statement: “There is perhaps nothing more important than protecting our community’s most vulnerable victims, our children. The collaborative efforts of our prosecutors, support staff, and the law enforcement officers in the Harford County Child Advocacy Center are a testament to the commitment, skill, and passion of those who have dedicated their lives to being champions for the children that need it most. It is our hope that this sentence will ensure that this young victim will never be at risk of harm at the hands of this Defendant again.” State’s Attorney Healey expresses her gratitude to Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Christina Cuomo, Senior Assistant State’s Attorney Jason Allen, Detective Scurto, and all the Child Advocacy Center staff who fought for justice on behalf of this victim and her family.