This is what is stated in the report on the abused baby in the Stade case - mother is threatened with charges

The Stade case caused horror nationwide and a debate about a lack of controls in Germany. Because based on what we know so far, Fatih G. shouldn't have been in this country at all. Not only that the 45-year-old was wanted in Turkey after he escaped from custody. He was also being investigated for child abuse.

After his escape, Fatih G. also stayed in various countries, as a reconstruction showed (WELT also reported). Among other things, he is said to have tried to apply for asylum in Croatia, but was rejected. He finally entered Germany and registered, although he is said to have only presented a temporary visa from Latvia. The authorities have now admitted that this should not have happened.

It is not entirely clear where Fatih G. stayed afterwards and how he made his living. The authorities only became aware of him in April 2026, after his baby was admitted to Hannover Medical School. Clinic staff noticed his aggressive behavior. Doctors diagnosed the child with a cerebral hemorrhage and suspected the cause of shaken baby trauma - caused by Fatih G., which he always denied.

The child had to undergo emergency surgery. However, because the parents did not want to consent to the procedure, the hospital contacted the youth welfare office.

The parents' custody was ultimately withdrawn. A court decided that the mother should live with her child in the Stade facility. There, employees of the responsible youth welfare office and the facility wanted to clarify with the parents in a support plan discussion on June 29th what would happen next with the child.

But the conversation apparently didn't go the way Fatih G. had imagined. During the conversation, he is said to have pulled out a gun that he had previously purchased on the black market in Berlin for 4,000 euros. Four women and two men died. Emergency services arrested G. after he fled the scene in a Mercedes.

The case is also so explosive because this getaway car - a Mercedes - was driven by Sylvia S., the mother-in-law of the SPD politician and former Lower Saxony integration commissioner Denis Kurku. The 65-year-old was also arrested but was later released. However, Kurku was under pressure because of family connections. Eventually he gave up his position as integration officer.

To what extent Sylvia S. is being investigated further is still unclear. She has not yet commented publicly on the incident. So far, the Stade public prosecutor's office has not responded to a query from WELT.

The Lower Saxony investigative authorities in the Stade case came under additional pressure because surveillance measures for Fatih G. had been stopped while he was in custody, even though he was considered to be at risk of suicide. After his death, the investigation into six murders and child abuse against him was discontinued because investigations into dead people are not allowed in Germany.

The child now lives in another facility, separated from his mother. However, it is unclear whether she continues to have contact with her daughter, as is the question of whether the girl suffered permanent damage from the shaken baby.

Only ten to 20 percent of babies survive

Shaken baby cases are often difficult to prove in court. It is difficult to reconstruct who is responsible for a child's shaken baby syndrome. Even if a baby cries for hours and cannot be calmed down, it should never be shaken. Otherwise, the head will swing back and forth unprotected and blood vessels in the brain can tear. The consequences range from permanent brain damage and disability to death.

According to estimates by the National Center for Early Help (NZFH), only around 10 to 20 percent of affected infants survive without permanent damage. In Germany, around 100 to 200 infants and toddlers with shaken trauma are treated in clinics every year. However, experts assume that the number of unreported cases is high because not all affected children receive medical care. They suspect that mental and physical impairments in young children are due in part to previous shaking that was never diagnosed.