Four-month-old girl dies months after her pro poker player father allegedly shook her so hard she was left ‘severely disabled’
- Four-month-old Aleaha tragically passed away on December 27 from injuries
- Her father, Juan Daniel Visagie, 25, has been charged with grievous bodily harm
- Aleaha was rushed to a Perth hospital on September 4 suffering critical injuries
- Her father was denied bail over concerns he would try to coerce girl’s mother
A baby girl has died after she was allegedly shaken so hard by her professional poker player father she suffered catastrophic brain injuries.
Four-month-old Aleaha passed away on December 27, three months after her father, Juan Daniel Visagie, assaulted the child at his south Perth house leaving her ‘severely disabled’, police allege.
Visagie, 25, has been behind bars since September, charged with causing grievous bodily harm, with prosecutors opposing bail over concerns he would harass the key witness – the baby’s mother.
A medical exam after she was rushed to hospital showed the 30-day-old baby suffered severe injuries including bruising on her chest – allegedly at the hands of his father (pictured)
Juan Daniel Visagie (pictured) was charged with grievous bodily harm over the injuries his daughter received which could be amended to more serious charges
WA Detectives are now looking into upgrading the charges against Visagie pending a review of medical information and a post-mortem.
Among the medical information to be reviewed is an examination conducted on September 4 after Aleaha was rushed from the suburb of Gosnells to Armadale-Kelmscott Memorial Hospital by Visagie and the girl’s mother.
Staff are understood to have found bruising on the child’s chest and body during the examination and determined her injuries to be life-threatening.
In an October hearing, where Visagie was denied bail from Hakea Prison, the court heard he had a history of charges connected to domestic violence, reports The West Australian.
He had also breached a previous police order involving the girl’s mother and breached protective bail for a different matter involving another young woman.
His defence lawyer has previously claimed his client would be fighting the charges but he is yet to make a formal plea.
‘I have had preliminary discussions with two medical experts and other hypothesis (for the cause of the baby’s injuries) were raised,’ lawyer Clayton Woodhouse said.
Prosecutors successfully opposed bail and told the court Visagie had already tried to contact the girl’s mother from jail by phone calls and social media.
Visagie (pictured) is understood to make money from playing poker and posts about the subject to his social media
