Groton residents will take a moment to pray Monday night for a baby police say was abused by his father, a U.S. navy sailor.
Neighbors are holding a vigil for a 2-month-old who the father, Jordan Rittenhouse, 24, is accused of assaulting. Some also planned on tying blue ribbons on homes at the Naval submarine base earlier in the day to raise awareness about child abuse.
The infant was taken to Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London and then Yale-New Haven Hospital to be treated for injuries including 29 bone fractures. Hospital officials previously said this is the worst case they have seen and authorities said they were surprise the baby survived.
Rittenhouse admitted to squeezing his son hard enough to make him stop crying eight times and one of the times he was concerned that he might have punctured a lung, according to court documents. Police also said that Rittenhouse "shoved" a bottle into the baby's mouth, causing him to bleed.
Rittenhouse is facing first-degree assault and risk of injury to a child charges and is scheduled to appear in New London Superior Court again on Sept. 10, according to the state judicial website.
The vigil is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. at 100 Tern Road in Groton.
