An Indiana man allegedly bit a 9-day-old’s face until it ‘looked like a busted up egg,’ and he claims he did it because the baby wouldn’t stop crying

An Indiana man has been charged after authorities say he bit a 9-day-old infant’s face repeatedly, allegedly telling police afterward that he did it because the baby wouldn’t stop crying. According to the New York Post, authorities say Kaden Manuel Lewis Shurm, 18, started by “nibbling” on the infant’s cheek before escalating into repeated, harder bites. He was arrested and charged with felony battery involving injury to a person under 14.

The case came to light after a pediatrician examined the infant and flagged the injuries to child welfare officials. That report brought in the Bloomington Police Department to investigate, according to court documents cited by the Post. Independent reporting puts that initial report on July 15, a day later than the date given in the original court-document citation.

Shurm reportedly admitted to biting the baby around 4 a.m. in an effort to get it to stop crying, telling investigators the child’s face ended up looking like a “busted up egg” by the time he was finished. Cases like this are part of why child-safety advocates specifically target infant crying as a risk factor.

The case ties into a broader, well-documented risk factor

The National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome runs an evidence-based program called the Period of PURPLE Crying. It teaches caregivers that a newborn’s crying can spike and become inconsolable in the first months of life, and that this is a normal developmental phase, not a sign anything is wrong. The program’s core message is to set the baby down somewhere safe and step away rather than escalate when frustration builds.

Beyond this incident, court records show Shurm has other pending criminal matters entirely unrelated to the infant’s case: a felony battery charge involving a deadly weapon, a felony criminal recklessness count, and a separate misdemeanor battery charge. The battery charge tied to the infant is classified as a Level 5 felony in Indiana. Under state sentencing law, that carries a prison range of one to six years if convicted, along with a fine of up to $10,000.

Court records indicate he was able to post $5,500 to bond out on the child abuse charge on July 21, but that release didn’t last. Within days, he was back in custody after a judge issued a warrant revoking bond in those other, older cases. A similarly disturbing case of infant abuse tied to a baby’s crying surfaced recently when a Georgia toddler’s death exposed alleged abuse. That case included a caregiver reportedly telling a doctor she’d wanted to smother her children’s crying with a pillow.

In general terms, Indiana’s child welfare process allows the Department of Child Services to remove a child from a caregiver’s custody without a court order when a case worker believes the child faces immediate, severe risk. A detention hearing is then required within 48 hours to determine whether that removal continues. It’s not publicly known whether that process applies to this specific case.

The infant’s current condition has not been publicly disclosed. Shurm has since been released from custody, and it’s unclear whether he has entered a plea in the case.