Jurors found Vincent Zappa guilty after hearing medical testimony about a severe brain bleed and extensive injuries to an 8-month-old boy.

MOUNT CLEMENS, Mich. — A Warren man was sentenced Thursday to 18 to 30 years in prison after a Macomb County jury convicted him of first-degree child abuse in the beating of his then-girlfriend’s 8-month-old son, prosecutors said.

The sentence closed one major phase of a case that began with an emergency 911 call in October 2024 and turned on doctors’ testimony about catastrophic injuries to an infant. Prosecutors said Vincent Zappa, 26, was babysitting the baby boy while the child’s mother was at work when the boy suffered an acute subdural hematoma, widespread bruising and heavy bleeding in both eyes. The conviction exposed Zappa to a life sentence or any term of years under Michigan law before Judge Joseph Toia imposed the prison term.

According to county prosecutors, the case began Oct. 23, 2024, at a home in Warren, a Detroit suburb in Macomb County. Zappa was alone with the infant while the mother worked. Prosecutors said he called 911 and told dispatchers the baby “was not acting himself.” The boy was taken to a hospital in critical condition. There, doctors found what prosecutors described as an acute subdural hematoma, or severe brain bleed, along with bruising on the baby’s head, neck and chest. During the later trial, the state said the child also had blood coming from his mouth. The case moved quickly at first. Zappa was arraigned Oct. 25, 2024, and Chief Judge John Chmura in Warren set bond at $350,000 cash or surety only. At a probable cause conference in November 2024, the court referred him for a psychological evaluation tied to culpability and criminal responsibility.

The case then unfolded over many months before reaching a two-week jury trial in Macomb County Circuit Court. Prosecutors said Assistant Prosecutor Colleen Worden presented testimony from multiple treating physicians who described the injuries as devastating and explained the likely long-term effects of that level of trauma on an infant. The medical evidence, as summarized by the prosecutor’s office, included more than 100 retinal hemorrhages in both eyes, extensive bruising across the child’s body and the severe brain bleed that first put the boy in critical condition. Officials have not publicly released a fuller trial record in the materials cited in the coverage, and the child’s current medical condition was not detailed in those public summaries. The mother’s name also was not used in the public releases. What is clear from the verdict and sentence is that jurors accepted the state’s account that Zappa caused the injuries while acting as the child’s caretaker.

The case drew added attention because of the scope of the injuries described by doctors and prosecutors. In infants, bilateral retinal hemorrhages and subdural bleeding are findings that physicians examine closely in possible abuse cases, while also ruling out other medical causes. In this prosecution, officials said the jury heard from several treating doctors rather than relying on one witness alone. Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido said after the conviction that the case involved “devastating injuries” to a child who could not speak for himself. The infant’s age also shaped the stakes. An 8-month-old child depends entirely on adults for care, and prosecutors repeatedly framed the case as one involving a very young and vulnerable victim. Public releases did not describe any plea agreement, reduced charge or bench-trial waiver, indicating the case went forward to a full jury verdict on the original first-degree child abuse count.

Jurors convicted Zappa on Jan. 15, 2026, after the two-week trial before Toia. A county release issued the next day said the conviction carried a possible sentence of life or any term of years. Zappa remained in custody while awaiting sentencing, which had been scheduled for Feb. 26 at 8:30 a.m. On that date, Toia sentenced him to 216 to 360 months in the Michigan Department of Corrections. Prosecutors said the judge also barred him from any contact with the victim or the victim’s family. In addition, officials said Zappa must register under Wyatt’s Law, Michigan’s database for people convicted of crimes against children. Lucido said in a statement after sentencing that he wanted to recognize law enforcement, medical staff and jurors “for ensuring accountability in this case.” No appeal filing was described in the public materials available at the time of sentencing.

The public record in the case is unusually clinical and spare, with officials releasing facts through short courthouse updates rather than long narrative filings. Even so, the language used by prosecutors gave a stark picture of what doctors saw when the baby reached the hospital: bruises across multiple parts of his body, blood from the mouth, a severe brain bleed and eye injuries measured in the triple digits. Local media reports after sentencing added that the no-contact order would cover both the child and the family. The prosecutor’s office, in both the conviction and sentencing announcements, cast the verdict as a response to abuse against one of the county’s “most vulnerable” residents. The officials quoted in the releases did not describe courtroom emotion in detail, and no statement from the child’s family was included in the public summaries.

After Thursday’s sentencing, the conviction stands and Zappa is headed into the state prison system under an 18- to 30-year term. Prosecutors did not list another hearing date in the public release, making the sentence, no-contact order and Wyatt’s Law registration the clearest next milestones now on record.

Author note: Last updated March 25, 2026.