Bail was set for a California man accused of violently shaking his girlfriend's 18-month-old baby at $100,000 cash-only by Judge Mark Kouris in 3rd District Court Tuesday.

George Luis Garcia, 37, called 911 on April 10 and reported that his girlfriend's baby boy was experiencing very shallow breathing. On arrival, Tooele City Police found the infant lying on a bedroom floor. The infant was unresponsive, a grayish color, and covered in vomit, according to a probable cause statement.

The infant was transported to Mountain West Medical Center and then airlifted to Primary Children's Medical Center. A doctor there told police that the infant had suffered a subdural hemorrhage on the top of the brain and also had internal bleeding all around the brain and bruising to the front of the brain. The doctor stated that the injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome, according to court documents.

When questioned by police, Garcia, who was the only adult to have access with the infant for most of that day, admitted to shaking the baby out of frustration. He was charged with child abuse involving physical injury, a second-degree felony.

Prosecutor Gary Searle told the court that the injuries the baby had suffered were "severe and debilitating" and would leave the baby with disabilities for the rest of his life.

The case is the second major shaken-baby incident in the county within the last six months.

Michelle Lee, 26, of Tooele, pled guilty to shaking a baby in her care on April 15. Initially when police responded to Lee's November 2007 911 call, Lee told them the child had fallen down the stairs. But when the investigation and information from hospital physicians indicated otherwise, Lee admitted to shaking the child. According to Lt. Paul Wimmer of the Tooele City Police Department the child suffered permanent injuries in this case as well.

According to the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome, between 1,200 and 1,400 cases of shaken baby syndrome are reported every year nationally, and approximately 25 percent of those cases are fatal.

Shaken baby syndrome (SBS) officials say that each case is preventable.

"Shaken baby syndrome is the most preventable form of child abuse," said Amy Wicks, an information specialist for the National Center on Shaken Baby Syndrome based in Ogden. "It seems that when a reason is given for shaking a child, it's that the child was crying. It's important that parents know that if they're frustrated and can't cope with it, it's OK to walk away."

Wicks said the center is beginning a new campaign to help prevent SBS by providing new parents with information about coping with crying.

"We are trying to educate them about the crying behavior and get them thinking about how they will react in those situations," Wicks said.

More information on SBS is available online at www.dontshake.org.

Garcia will appear in court next on May 13. Lee will be sentenced on June 3.

jamieb@tooeletranscript.com