Marion County pair arrested after failing to seek help for 3-year-old with life-threatening injuries, deputies say

MARION COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Two Marion residents have been arrested after failing to seek medical help for a 3-year-old girl suffered life-threatening injuries in July, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office said.

Leon Jerome Garner, 35, and Shantela Patrice Diejuste, 37, have both been charged with unlawfully placing a child at risk, causing harm, or willfully abandoning a child, a news release said.

Garner and Diejuste had guardianship of the child, warrants said. After Diejuste left Marion for a meeting in Columbia, Garner contacted her to say that there was blood coming from the girl’s head, so he wrapped it in a bandage.

The warrants said that in addition to the wound on her head, she also had several internal injuries.

Diejuste returned home and the two failed to seek medical help for the girl for an extended period of time, which put the child’s mental and physical health in danger, warrants said.

Garner and Diejuste are being held at the Marion County Detention Center awaiting a bond hearing. The girl has been placed in the care of the South Carolina Department of Social Services.

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Jordan White is a Digital Producer at News13. She joined the News13 team in August 2024. Jordan, a Myrtle Beach native, graduated from St. James High School in Murrells Inlet and is a graduate of Coker University. Follow Jordan on Facebook , X, formerly Twitter , and read more of her work here .

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