Fairfield babysitter accused of shaking toddler to death

Gina Nicole Bailey, 24, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a child after investigators said she shook an 18-month-old boy to death on Travis Air Force Base last week Gina Nicole Bailey, 24, was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a child after investigators said she shook an 18-month-old boy to death on Travis Air Force Base last week Photo: Fairfield PD Photo: Fairfield PD Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Fairfield babysitter accused of shaking toddler to death 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 24-year-old babysitter was arrested on suspicion of violently shaking an 18-month-old boy to death at a family’s home on Travis Air Force Base near Fairfield, police said Wednesday.

Gina Nicole Bailey, a babysitter regularly used by the family, had been caring for the boy at the home on the 100 block of Michigan Street on Dec. 17, said Officer Cleo Mayoral, a Fairfield police spokesman.

The boy, who did not have any other obvious signs of trauma, was having trouble breathing and was placed on a ventilator at David Grant Medical Center at the Air Force base, police said.

The next day, he was taken to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where he died. The boy was not immediately identified.

After interviewing several witnesses and reviewing autopsy results, investigators later determined that the boy died from a severe internal brain injury.

“The investigation revealed the baby had been shaken violently and dropped on the floor by Bailey,” Mayoral said.

Bailey, a civilian resident of the base, was arrested at 6 p.m. Tuesday and booked into the Solono County Jail on suspicion of assaulting a child, causing death. She is being held on $750,000 bail.

Evan Sernoffsky is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: esernoffsky@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @EvanSernoffsky