Press Release
The Office of State Attorney Glenn Hess announces that on August 31, 2017, a Bay County jury convicted father, Justin Lee Lanier, of Aggravated Child Neglect Causing Great Bodily Harm, after his 5-month-old daughter was rushed to a local hospital with six skull fractures, bleeding on her brain, and a badly bruised body. After undergoing three emergency brain operations, one neurosurgeon testified that the child, due to abuse, had the largest head she had ever seen in the United States.
Lanier faces up to fifteen years in prison when sentenced before the Honorable Michael C. Overstreet on October 9, 2017. The Panama City Police Department, Department of Children and Families, and members of the Child Protection Team investigated the case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant State Attorneys Devin Collier and Brittany Forester.
If additional information is needed, please contact Chief Assistant State Attorney Larry Basford.