The 6-month-old girl had trouble breathing, was cold and limp but her mother and her boyfriend didn’t call 911 and took 30 minutes to drive to the Northwest Health-Porter because they stopped to buy snacks, court records show.
That child died two days later, Oct. 31, 2025, at Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago.
The Porter County Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday filed Level 1 felony charges against Grant Ethan Stevens and Hannah Marie Evans, both 30, who lived together in an apartment in the 4500 block of Concord Square Drive in Valparaiso.
Stevens is charged with aggravated battery and two counts of neglect of a dependent. His charges accuse him of a pattern of causing the baby’s injuries during her six-month lifespan, along with neglecting her medical care.
The neglect of a dependent charge against Evans accuses her of depriving her child of necessary medical care that could have saved her life.
When the child arrived at Northwest Health – Porter, she was diagnosed with a traumatic injury to her bowel and it was apparent that she had suffered a rib fracture weeks before, the court record shows.
Dr. Veena Ramaiah, a child abuse expert at Comer Children’s Hospital in Chicago, stated the child was in septic shock and possibly could have been dying on the way to the hospital, which would not have been helped by a detour to a gas station to buy an energy drink and snacks.
Ramaiah concluded that there was “no medical explanation” for the child’s injuries other than abuse.
The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office on Dec. 17 ruled the child’s death a homicide, due to multiple injuries. The autopsy found several broken ribs that were in various healing stages, the court record states.
Valparaiso Police Detective Alex Smith filed a lengthy probable cause statement in the Porter Superior Court that details what happened in the couple’s Valparaiso apartment on Oct. 28, 2025, the evening before they took the 6-month-old girl to the hospital.
Stevens told a Department of Child Services investigator that he was put in charge of the child’s care for two hours that evening because Evans wanted to take a break from caring for her.
While attempting to feed the child a bottle, Stevens stated that she began to have mucus and vomit coming out of her nose and mouth.
He panicked and provided cardiopulmonary resuscitation and back blows to the child. Stevens didn’t bother to tell Evans, as he believed the child’s breathing was OK, though he recalled there was a wheezing sound.
Evans, who had headphones on at the time, did tell investigators that she heard loud smacking sounds and went in to check. There was vomit on Stevens’ shirt as he explained what happened. She went back to her video game.
Stevens went to bed with Evans at 11:30 p.m. as the child was down for the night.
Evans stated that she thought something might be amiss because the child didn’t get up at her normal 1:30 p.m. feeding time.
Stevens told the investigator that when he got up at 6 a.m. on Oct. 29, the child was “cold to the touch” and appeared to be lifeless. He awoke Evans and stated they needed to take the child to the hospital.
But the couple decided not to call 911, and investigators later established that it took 30 minutes to get to the hospital, because they stopped at the Family Express gas station at the corner of Calumet Avenue and Burlington Beach Road on Valparaiso’s north side.
The couple had told investigators they thought it would be faster to drive to the hospital instead of calling 911 for an ambulance.
Evans stated that she was angry because Stevens insisted on stopping to get a Red Bull.
During interviews with a Department of Child Services investigator, Evans recalled previous incidents involving Stevens and the child. In one case, the child struck a coffee table and suffered abdominal bruising.
Evans said that Stevens had referred to the child on occasion as a “bitch,” but her boyfriend’s behavior had been improving.
Evans and Stevens were booked into Porter County Jail late Thursday afternoon, according to jail records.
Jim Woods is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
