She Arrived at the ER with Two Black Eyes- The Story of Addilyn Woodard

She Arrived at the ER with Two Black Eyes- The Story of Addilyn Woodard

And I’m talking to the father to try to find out what has happened and why they have brought the child to the hospital. Emergency room nurse Sher Ray was stunned at the child’s condition upon arrival back in January of 2019. How unusual is it at the emergency room in Lawrenceburg to see a 10-week-old infant with black eyes? Very unusual at that age.

The story I have for you today is about a 10-week-old baby who was severely beaten by her father, and her mother just let it happen. These parents barely even took care of their own daughter, but after having to do it for just one weekend, Adeline was left clinging to life. This is the story of Adeline Woodard.

Baby Adeline was born on November 9th, 2018, to her parents, Brooklyn Tidwell and Michael Fisher. The family lived in Lawrence County, Tennessee, and even though little Adeline had been born six weeks early and she weighed less than five pounds, she was still very happy and healthy. So Adeline was only four days old when she essentially began living part-time with her great aunt and uncle, Tara and Trevor Woodard.

It had started off as them just babysitting Adeline, but soon they were keeping her for multiple days at a time because apparently her parents just couldn’t be bothered by their newborn baby. Adeline’s Aunt Tara would bring her for doctor appointments, buy her new clothing, get up with her in the middle of the night — essentially do everything that parents should be doing. And since Tara and Trevor were never able to have children of their own, Adeline was a blessing to them. She completed their family.

Now, since Adeline’s health and safety were her aunt and uncle’s number one priority, when her parents asked them to take her one weekend, they told them that she’d be better off staying with them because both of them were very sick. They thought they were doing the right thing by not spreading the germs to the baby. But then they would regret this decision, because the very next day, on January 26th, 2019, Trevor received a phone call from Adeline’s mother, Brooklyn.

When Tara answered the phone, she noticed that Brooklyn sounded worried, and then she told her that she needed to get down to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital as soon as possible. Brooklyn told her that she was there with Adeline and she wasn’t sure if the baby girl was going to make it or not.

So, only a short time before this phone call, Adeline’s parents had rushed her to the Southern Tennessee Regional Medical Center with multiple severe injuries. They were telling the medical staff that she had fallen down. She was 10 weeks old. Later, Michael reportedly told the staff that he was actually carrying Adeline and he fell down on top of her.

But when the doctors and nurses looked at little Adeline, they knew this was not an accident. She was covered in blood, suffering from a head wound, nine broken ribs, broken arms, internal bleeding, swelling of the brain, brain bleeds, and she had bruises all over her body. So, due to the severity of Adeline’s injuries, she was airlifted to Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

The baby was in bad shape, and doctors did not think she was going to even make it through the night. She had suffered abuse so severe that she was on the brink of death. But Adeline would end up making it through the night, even though she now needed a ventilator to breathe. She had blood clots throughout her body, she had lost her eyesight, and she began having seizures due to the swelling of her brain.

So the less-than-3-month-old little girl had to be placed into a medically induced coma to get her brain swelling to go back down. Doctors didn’t think there was any way this baby was going to pull through all the horrific injuries that she had.

Hospital staff had not forgotten about the very suspicious stories that Adeline’s parents had given them, and they contacted law enforcement. Subsequently, the Lawrenceburg Police Department began their investigation. Both of Adeline’s parents, Michael and Brooklyn, were placed under arrest.

Twenty-seven-year-old Brooklyn Tidwell was charged with aggravated child neglect. She was held on a $50,000 bond. This was because she had not sought medical treatment for Adeline soon enough. And 34-year-old Michael Fisher was charged with aggravated child abuse as well as attempted first-degree murder. He was given a $500,000 bail, and they were both held at the Lawrence County Jail.

Immediately following the incident, Adeline’s aunt and uncle, Tara and Trevor, took steps to gain temporary emergency custody of the little girl. Tara was beside herself with anger that this had happened to her sweet niece, but she was also feeling guilty, since she had been asked to watch Adeline that weekend but had been unable to since she was sick. Tara thought that if she had babysat Adeline that weekend, then this would never have happened. But it probably would have happened at some point, because those are the parents that she has.

Tara never left baby Adeline’s side while she was at the hospital, though there were many sleepless nights for her, not knowing whether or not baby Adeline was going to suddenly stop breathing. It was very touch-and-go for a while if Adeline was going to make it.

But every day, Adeline was slowly improving. She began to breathe on her own, and then she opened her eyes. Soon, Adeline was able to move her arms, legs, and head. But unfortunately, due to her horrific injuries, she was left blind in both eyes and she had brain damage.

Tara was told that Adeline would never move on her own, never show emotion on her own, and would always need a ventilator tube to breathe. Adeline was going to be facing a lifetime of issues due to the abuse her father had inflicted on her.

But after 46 days in the hospital, Adeline was showing enough improvement that she was released on March 13th, 2019. So doctors had thought that Adeline would not be able to move on her own or show any emotion, but they were very wrong.

Within a few months of her discharge from the hospital, Adeline had done both, and she was growing stronger every day. She was doing so much better than anyone ever thought she would.

“Good stuff, princess. You going to talk to me? Baby, you going to talk to me about it? What are you saying? Oh, you’re going to sing me a song? That’d be better.”

Adeline has continued to fight every step of the way, and her eyesight, which was severely damaged, may now make a full recovery. Six months after bringing her into their home full-time, on September 20th, Tara and Trevor officially made Adeline their daughter and adopted her. She became Adeline Woodard.

It was discovered that Adeline’s mother, Brooklyn, actually had a prior history with child services. Previously, they had removed two other children from her care before Adeline was born. So people wanted to know why child services had not known that Brooklyn had another baby that also might be at risk.

But the thing is, child protective services does not monitor adults, so they would not have known that Adeline was born, because the cases for her other two children would have been closed out after six months. So they would have no way of knowing that she had another child. There was no tabs being kept on her — that is, unless someone had actually filed a report in regards to Adeline’s health or wellbeing, which nobody had.

So Adeline’s biological father, Michael, went to trial in August of 2021, though it had been moved from Lawrence County, Tennessee, to Lincoln County after Michael’s public defender requested a change of venue due to pre-trial publicity. Now, in order to convict him of attempted first-degree murder, the prosecution would have to convince the jury that Michael had wanted to kill his baby girl. The district attorney would say this was one of the worst cases he had ever seen in his over 20 years as a prosecutor.

To everyone’s surprise, during Michael’s trial, he would enter a guilty plea to his charge of aggravated child abuse, though he was still maintaining his innocence on his attempted first-degree murder charge. Michael testified in his own defense, saying that he had not meant to kill Adeline. He did admit, however, that he had gotten upset over the baby’s constant crying, and that had caused him to assault her.

He tearfully said during his testimony that he had been holding the baby when he tripped and fell. Adeline began crying, and this angered him, so he struck the infant two or three times in the head. He also shook her, slammed her into his chest, and slammed her into the couch. During his testimony, Michael even said that Adeline had looked at him like, “Why are you doing this?” but yet he continued.

The emergency room nurse who had treated Adeline also testified during Michael’s trial. She said she had been stunned by the baby’s condition when she arrived at the hospital. She said it was highly unusual for a baby of that age to have a black eye for any reason, so she immediately was suspicious of the parents.

Adeline’s new mom, Tara Woodard, told the jury that life is still a struggle for Adeline, who is blind and suffers from constant seizures. She said that the little girl has breathing issues, and if a tracheotomy ended up being needed but didn’t end up working, she would lose her little girl.

Tara said, “God saved her once, and God can save her again. But do we know how long she can live? To see her fifth birthday, or her 10th birthday?”

A doctor who was testifying at the trial said that Adeline would never be able to live a full life. She was now so fragile that there were concerns that she would succumb to her injuries within the next year and die.

But after only two hours of deliberation, the jury returned with a guilty verdict for attempted first-degree murder. They believed that Michael had wanted to kill his daughter and his actions were premeditated. The judge then sentenced Michael Fisher to serve one 25-year sentence on each of his charges. These two 25-year sentences were to run consecutively with no chance of parole.

“God saved her once, and God can save her again. But do we know how long she can live? You know, to see her fifth birthday, her 10th birthday? I mean, we don’t know that.”

What happened to Adeline is a tragedy, there’s no question about that. And the person responsible for those injuries is sitting right there: Michael Fisher, Adeline’s biological father. Michael Fisher pleaded guilty to aggravated child abuse. He testified at trial to becoming angry over the crying and beat Adeline, but denied intending to kill her.

The jury didn’t buy it and convicted Fisher of attempted first-degree murder. The judge will sentence Fisher, who faces a maximum of 50 years in prison for the two crimes. He has to live in the penitentiary every day. Some judgment day, he will get his paybacks. It’s justice for baby Adeline.

And Woodard says a message to others who may think of hurting a crying child: “Let them cry. Don’t get angry. Do not get angry and put your hands on a child. That child is innocent.”

Now, shortly after her arrest, Adeline’s mother, Brooklyn, had posted her $50,000 bail. Brooklyn Tidwell bonded out of the Lawrence County Jail yesterday. This case has garnered a lot of public attention and outrage. Now Tidwell is talking to News Channel 5’s Nick Beres, who’s in the 5 Alert Center. Nick, what does she have to say?

“Yeah, Amy, we have this exclusive interview now. I spoke with Tidwell by telephone, and among other things, she’s telling me right now that she’s getting an awful lot of death threats.”

All right. As this case moves forward, now Tidwell is charged with aggravated child neglect in connection with what happened to her daughter Adeline. Again, you’re right, a lot of people following this story. Now this past January, the child was rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries — the results, police say, of an absolutely awful beating. You see here in these photos, she’s recovered quite a bit.

Adeline’s father, Michael Fisher, is charged with attempted homicide. Now Tidwell tells me she had nothing to do with the abuse, that she was asleep and did not know that it was happening. She also says that she will be fighting the criminal charges and wants to clear her name. And there’s this: Tidwell says she does also hope to one day get back and be with her daughter.

However, only a few months after that, she was arrested again for shoplifting. Brooklyn was set to stand trial in December of 2021 for her charge of aggravated child neglect. However, a month before her trial was set to start, she took a plea deal. That plea deal gave her only three years of probation. Then she entered into a best interest plea on her charge of robbery, and she was given six years of probation — no jail time.

But then in May of 2022, she was again arrested, this time on drug and drug paraphernalia possession charges. And since she was on probation, the judge ordered that she serve her nine years of probation in jail instead. Tara said it’s a huge relief that she’s been sentenced to the nine years in prison, and it’s more justice for Adeline. Both Michael and Brooklyn are also forbidden to ever have contact with Adeline again.

When news of Adeline’s hospitalization broke out, the Woodards had tons of support in the forms of cards and letters from all around the country as well as the world. And they also received a ton of support from their community in Mount Pleasant. They hosted a chili supper for them, as well as sold t-shirts and stickers to help raise money for Adeline’s medical costs, as well as any other costs that may arise.

On the night of Adeline’s first birthday, after her unicorn party had come to an end, she attended the Southern Fall Brawl Demolition Derby with her parents. The event benefited multiple organizations that all focus on helping children who have survived abuse. That night, Adeline was recognized in front of a large crowd for how far she had come. And then, to celebrate her first birthday, the Advocacy Center put together a big gift basket for her to bring home.

A friend of Tara and Trevor who was also driving that night dedicated his drive to Adeline, and he had “Adeline Strong” decals all over his car, as well as a giant picture of her on top of his car.

The sweet girl is now doing well. She has a wonderful, loving family, and she is going to school. Adeline has made a lot of progress. She can now move her legs, show emotions, and let her parents know what it is she needs. Her personality shines through every day, even though she still is unable to walk or talk.

Adeline’s new mom and dad hope that maybe one day her eyesight will come back completely, but right now there has been much improvement. And while Adeline can’t see her parents clearly, her eyes are seeing lights, movements, and some objects. And though the little girl continues to have seizures daily, there are not as many as she had before.

The now 5-year-old Adeline absolutely loves being in the water, going to her dad’s car races, listening to music, going to school, and being held and loved. But Adeline hates it when it’s too quiet and no one’s talking to her. She just loves attention, has a lot of sass, and is very social. The little girl has even participated in a few beauty pageants, and she loves to go on vacations with her family. Tara tries to give Adeline the most normal life that she possibly can.

Well, thank you for listening to all of Adeline’s story today. I am so happy this little girl pulled through all her horrific injuries and is now doing better than doctors ever expected her to. On top of that, she seems to have a very loving home. But it is still sad to know that she’ll never live a normal life because of those monsters that abused and neglected her, all because they couldn’t handle their own newborn baby for a few days.