SAN ANTONIO – A jury on Friday found Terrence Harper guilty of injury to a child for the 2018 beating of his 4-month-old son.
The punishment phase is underway and a sentence could be handed down as early as Friday afternoon. Harper faces 5-99 years in prison for the crime.
During the trial, the jury heard audio recordings of a conversation between Child Protective Services investigators and Harper.
“I knew something was wrong and I started giving him CPR,” Harper told investigators in the recording when trying to explain what happened to his son.
In an interview with KSAT in 2019, the boy’s mother said doctors at University Hospital told her that Trace had severe trauma, including retinal hemorrhaging, bleeding in the brain, a cracked skull, traumatic brain injury and rib fractures.
“He had a stroke, so the left side of his body was completely paralyzed. He had a face droop. He has cortical visual impairment, so he’s legally blind. He now has cerebral palsy because of his TBI,” the boy’s mother, Taylor Hibbens, said.
This case also led police to reopen a 2012 child death case where a 4-month-old allegedly died in Harper’s care. The incident was originally ruled an accident and he has since been charged with capital murder in that case. The indictment said Harper struck the infant with an unknown object, shook him and threw him against a wall and floor.
Hibbens previously said she was unaware of the 2012 incident involving her then-fiance Harper.
“I feel like this could have been preventable,” Hilbbens said. “Two innocent 4-month-olds, that’s crazy.”
Harper’s capital murder trial in the 2012 case is expected at a later date.
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