A St Joseph man accused of seriously injuring a 15-month old baby is charged with Assault, Child Abuse and Child Endangerment.

According to court documents, 24-year-old Zachary Kerns-Poe struck the child with a plastic object because the youngster was crying and he “just couldn’t handle it anymore.”

Kerns-Poe is being held without bond pending a first appearance Tuesday.

In court documents, an investigator says officers and paramedics were dispatched to an address on Jennifer Lane in Country Club Village. There they found the child unresponsive. The infant was taken to Mosaic Life Care and transfered to Children’s Mercy Hospital, where doctors performed emergency surgery for massive head trauma. Officials say the child remains in serious to critical condition.

Officers with the Andrew County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol interviewed Mr Kerns-Poe. They say he confessed to causing the child’s injuries. According to a court affidavit, the suspect said he used “a plastic object” to strike the child in the head several times.

He said he struck the child “almost” as hard as he could, adding he could “even hear the swooshing sound of the object” going by his ear.

According to the investigators, “Zachary stated that he was tired and the child was crying and being very fussy and he just couldn’t handle it anymore.”