WAUSAU − A 36-year-old former Wausau daycare owner entered a plea May 19 to a charge related to injuries to a 4-month-old baby who had a skull fracture, brain bleeding and a hemorrhage in her eye.
Shawna L. Munguia pleaded no contest to an amended charge of failure to act to prevent great bodily harm of a child. The charge was reduced from a charge of recklessly causing harm to a child. Marathon County Circuit Judge Rick Cveykus found Munguia guilty. He ordered a presentence investigation and scheduled Munguia’s sentencing for Aug. 5.
According to the criminal complaint, at 12:55 a.m. May 15, 2025, a woman brought her 4-month-old daughter to a Wausau hospital after the baby began throwing up. The baby was then transferred to Marshfield Medical Center in Marshfield.
The mother said her baby had been at an in-home daycare center run by Munguia on May 14, 2025. When the mother went to pick the baby up at 4:30 p.m. May 14, 2025, she saw light bruising on the top of the baby’s head, and Munguia said a child had fallen into Munguia while Munguia was holding the baby, causing the injury, according to the complaint.
Doctors examining the baby at the hospital determined she had a skull fracture on the left side of her head, evidence of old and new brain bleeding, bruising on the left side of her head and hemorrhaging in her eyes, with it being worse in her right side, according to the complaint. A doctor told detectives the injuries could not have happened from the incident Munguia described, according to the complaint.
Detectives interviewed Munguia, who told them she didn’t know how the baby got the injuries. When officers said the baby couldn’t have been so seriously hurt from the child falling into Munguia, she said another child had fallen on the baby 10 times, according to the complaint.
Detectives showed Munguia a text message she had sent her husband stating that she was caring for a baby who wouldn’t stop crying. The detective said the message sounded like Munguia was frustrated, according to the complaint.
Munguia admitted she had become frustrated when all the other children were down for naps, but the baby wouldn’t stop crying. She said she picked the baby up from the couch, shook her and told her to stop crying, according to the complaint. Munguia said she didn’t remember how many times she shook the baby back and forth, but she didn’t think it was many times.
Contact Karen Madden at kmadden@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33.
This article originally appeared on Wausau Daily Herald: Former Wausau daycare owner guilty of failing to prevent harm to baby
Reporting by Karen Madden, Wausau Daily Herald / Wausau Daily Herald
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