NATCHEZ — A 23-month-old girl is on life support and her mother behind bars in what police say is a “horrific” child abuse case.

Natchez Police Detective Jerry Ford said Shalae M. Lewis, 32, was charged last week with felony child abuse after an investigation led to Lewis reportedly confessing to repeatedly abusing her daughter.

As of the last report from doctors, Ford said, the child is on life support at Blair E. Batson Children’s Hospital and suffered severe head trauma, including a cracked skull and a brain hemorrhage, after reportedly being thrown or pushed down a flight of stairs by Lewis.

Ford said NPD was contacted by the Department of Human Services after DHS was contacted by medical staff after the child was airlifted to Jackson for treatment.

“They were examining the baby, and the baby also had cracked ribs that were healing and some liver damage as well as burns on (her body),” Ford said.

NPD opened an investigation and began interviewing relatives, who reportedly told investigators they had filed a previous DHS report about the abuse.

“I don’t know if that was in Louisiana or Mississippi,” Ford said.

Lewis is reportedly from Sicily Island and is listed as a resident of the Louisiana town on NPD’s booking sheet, but recently got an apartment in Natchez, Ford said.

Investigators interviewed Lewis, who Ford said confessed to abusing the child.

“She had been in a relationship with the child’s father, and the father had broken up with her, and as a result of that, she said she was taking it out on the child, because the child reminded her of him.”

Lewis had previously told DHS representatives that the child fell down the stairs while Lewis was taking out trash.

NPD will continue, Ford said, to monitor the child’s condition with medical staff.

Ford expressed sorrow and shock at the nature of abuse the child has endured.

“This is one of the worst cases of child abuse that I have ever seen,” he said. “It was pretty horrific.”

Lewis is being held in the Natchez City Jail on a $1 million bond.