Child Struck By Frozen Meat In Coma

A 5-year-old girl remained in a coma Sunday after reportedly being struck in the head by a frozen piece of meat during a domestic dispute.

Kenneth Groves, 25, was arrested Tuesday evening on assault and reckless endangerment charges after he allegedly injured the unidentified girl while arguing with her mother. Groves was being held in Chemung County jail.

The girl’s aunt, Jennifer Chapman, told the Star-Gazette of Elmira that the girl was injured after she was hit in the forehead by a piece of frozen meat. Chapman says she was told that Groves became upset that his dinner was not ready, opened the freezer and then began removing frozen food items by randomly throwing them.

The child was standing in a different room when she was struck. Chapman said tests at the Arnot Ogden Medical Center revealed that the girl suffered a fractured skull and a subdural hematoma, a condition in which blood collects between the brain and its protective covering. The hematoma was removed and the child was put into a medically induced coma.

She remains in the coma and was listed in a critical condition.