Maria Rivera made her initial appearance before a judge today after being arrested for allegedly shaking her 11-month-old daughter, Stormi Rivera, who's not expected to survive her injuries.
Defendants are most often silent during these appearances, listening to the judge explain what their charges are and the conditions of their release from jail.
Rivera, 21, took to explaining how she didn't shake her baby to near-death, although doctors told police that was "the only way" the girl could've been injured like she was.
Rivera initially told police she was holding Stormi when the girl fell down the stairs, according to court documents obtained by New Times, but told the judge a couple times today that it was a seizure that caused the girl to fall.
"My daughter had a seizure, fell down the stairs, that was it," she said.
Rivera told police she tried numerous "methods" to revive Stormi after she went unconscious, like shaking the baby "on and off" for as long as half an hour.
Her other "methods" included tapping Stormi's face, using wipes on her face, and eventually performing CPR, according to the documents.
About 90 minutes after she was done doing that, Stormi finally made it to the hospital.
And that's only because instead of calling 9-1-1, or taking the girl right to the hospital, she called her mother -- who lives in Maricopa -- and had her come over to her Phoenix apartment to evaluate the situation.
Rivera's mother arrived at her daughter's apartment, noticed the baby was unresponsive, and "immediately" took her to the hospital.
Police say that for the first three hours of the interview, Rivera denied any involvement in causing the girl's injuries, instead saying that the girl had fallen down the stairs while she was holding her.
Rivera later "minimized her involvement" in her daughter being injured instead of flat-out denying her involvement, the documents say.
Stormi also had a "human adult bite" on her left thigh, which Rivera has yet to provide an explanation for, according to the documents.
Rivera faces two counts of child abuse -- for now -- and her bond was set at $200,000.
