Eureka Babysitter Charged with Second-Degree Murder

Jennifer Winkler, 30, of the 100 block of Shaw Drive in Eureka, was charged late Monday night with second-degree murder and felony child abuse associated with the death of a 13-month-old girl. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney's Office authorities indicated that Winkler shook Lily Rieger while babysitting and fractured her skull, causing her death.

Rieger also was a Eureka resident.

Bail for Winkler was set at $500,000 cash. She was not yet in custody as of Tuesday night. KSDK-TV reports that prosecutors indicate this case will be turned over to a grand jury.

officials stated Winkler was babysitting Rieger in Winkler's home on July 29. Police said in the statement Winkler called 911 that afternoon to report a sick child, and an ambulance took Rieger to a hospital for treatment.

Eureka police were summoned to the hospital to investigate after physicians suspected her fractured skull and brain trauma were caused by child abuse. Police stated in court documents that Winkler "was the only adult with the victim in the seven hours prior to her injury."

Authorities said Rieger died at Cardinal Glennon Medical Center on July 31 of blunt trauma to her head.

Dr. Robert Reece, a clinical professor of pediatrics at the Tufts University School of Medicine, online describes medical problems coming from Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) as the destruction of brain cells secondary to trauma, lack of oxygen to the brain cells, and swelling of the brain.

He said the degree of brain damage depends on the amount and duration of the shaking, and the forces involved in impact of the head. Signs and symptoms range on a spectrum of neurological alterations from minor (irritability, lethargy, tremors, vomiting) to major (seizures, coma, stupor, death).

According to estimates from U.S. hospitals, the number of SBS deaths range from 600 per year in the United States to as high as 1,400.

Update to article Nov. 17 at 11:15 a.m.: Eureka Police Chief Michael Wiegand reports Jennifer Winkler was taken into custody yesterday and is at the St. Louis County Jail.