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FLORENCE, Ala. (WHNT) — A Florence man was indicted on multiple charges after court records say an infant in his care was found with several bruises and dried blood in her ear.
27-year-old Evan Blake Folsom was arrested in December 2021 after court records say a traffic stop led to the discovery of narcotics and an infant who was possibly abused.
On December 13, 2021, an officer with the Tuscumbia Police Department pulled a vehicle over near the intersection of Hwy 72 and Woodmont Drive for a traffic violation. The driver, later identified as Folsom, was found to have active arrest warrants in Tuscumbia and Lauderdale County.
The officer placed Folsom in handcuffs and reported in court documents he found a glass pipe in Folsom’s pocket before asking if there was anything else illegal in the vehicle, to which Folsom reportedly said there was meth.
While searching the vehicle, the officer found the infant. He described in court records that “the child had bruises on her face and neck and dried blood in one of her ears.”
From there, the infant was placed in the custody of the Colbert County Department of Human Resources.
The officer also reported finding a plastic baggie with a “clear crystalline substance” that later tested positive for methamphetamine. A plastic bindle with marijuana was also said to be found in the vehicle.
Folsom was interviewed on Dec. 14, where court documents say he told detectives that he was unaware of any abuse, saying the injuries to the infant were from a fall from her crib that she tried to climb out of.
On Dec. 15, DHR sent pictures of the infant’s injuries to investigators. In their report, investigators said those injuries weren’t consistent with a fall from a crib, saying the bruising was extensive and in various stages of healing all over her body.
One of those bruises “had a shape that clearly outlined a handprint,” the detective stated.
In an interview that followed, detectives said Folsom maintained his story about a fall from the crib and was “unaware” of any further injuries, adding that he “had not noticed” the handprint.
Court records say he wasn’t able to provide an explanation of the other bruising throughout the child’s body.
Folsom was released from jail on a $30,000 bond. A Colbert County grand jury returned the indictment against him on March 10, 2023.
According to recent court filings, Folsom is set to be arraigned on April 25, 2023, at the Colbert County Courthouse under Judge Kyle Brown.
