Story highlights FBI: Former deputy sheriff deliberately lied to obtain search warrant

SWAT members executing false warrant threw flash-bang grenade that critically injured toddler

Former deputy sheriff's attorney: "She is being made the lone target"

(CNN) A former Habersham County, Georgia, deputy sheriff's false statements to a judge last year set in motion a chain of events that led to the critical injury of a toddler, according to a federal indictment filed Wednesday in district court.

In May 2014, Nikki Autry and a team of special agents and informants from the local Narcotics Criminal Investigation and Suppression Team were "attempting undercover narcotics buys." Autry presented an affidavit to a magistrate judge falsely swearing that a "true and reliable informant" had bought a small amount of methamphetamine at a residence.

Based on the erroneous information she presented, which also included claims of "heavy traffic in and out of the residence," the judge issued Autry a "no knock" search warrant.

When a SWAT team executing that warrant found the front door blocked, one of the officers tossed a flash-bang grenade inside the residence. Once inside the home, the SWAT team realized a portable playpen had been blocking the door, and the flash-bang grenade had landed where a 19-month-old was sleeping, eventually exploding on the child's pillow.

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