Mom whose son was rushed to hospital from caregiver's home pushes to create 'Levi's Law'

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A military family has been fighting for justice since a caregiver was accused two years ago of severely injuring their son.

While they await the trial later this year, they have a new mission: to make sure military families have access to all court hearings regardless of where they are in the world.

Levi Anderson is like most three-year-old boys and loves cake on his birthday and posing for pictures.

His mom, Christin Anderson, says he's come a long way since his life changed two years ago.

"Considering his injuries and how horrific they were, he's doing well, but the definition of good is definitely skewed for me," Anderson said.

In March of 2023, Levi was rushed from a Hanford in-home daycare to Valley Children's Hospital, where he remained for 21 days.

Doctors determined he was severely injured.

Investigators say those injuries were consistent with "Shaken Baby Syndrome."

His caregiver, Courtney Bias, was arrested and charged with child abuse.

RELATED: Hanford caregiver arrested for child abuse, 13-month-old had brain bleed from injuries

Levi is still recovering from the injuries.

He has to wear a helmet because he's still missing a portion of his skull, and he attends multiple doctors appointments and therapy sessions weekly.

"A traumatic brain injury is not something that just goes away. it's something that you deal with for the rest of your life," Anderson said.

Since the very first hearing, Christin has made it a priority to attend every court date and advocate for her son.

But when her husband, a fighter pilot in the Navy, was given orders to relocate to Virginia Beach, Virginia, she realized it wouldn't be as easy as just hopping on Zoom.

"You'd think it'd be a given that I would participate remotely in my minor son's public court hearings, but that was not the case. Instead it was a hard no, you cannot participate," Anderson said.

Kings County District Attorney Sarah Hacker says Marsy's Law provides that victims are entitled to appear in the court proceedings.

However, it doesn't specifically address zoom appearances.

That decision lies with the judge.

"It depends on the judge because the judge is the one who decides how their courtroom is going to be run. It depends from courtroom to courtroom, judge to judge," Hacker said.

After Christin was initially denied, the DA filed a motion asking the judge to carry the spirit of Marsy's law into zoom appearances.

The judge approved that decision and, as long as the case remains with the current judge, Christin will have remote access moving forward.

But she doesn't want any other military family to have to deal with this in the future.

So she's now pushing to create "Levi's Law."

"What I'm trying to do is create some legislation that states that if you have a minor child, on the defense or prosecution, that you can participate remotely," Anderson said.

She's also rallied support on social media, growing her TikTok page to nearly 200,000 followers by sharing Levi's story.

She says she won't stop fighting for military families or her for son.

"It's very, very important that I'm there to be heard, and it's important that I'm there to be a voice for Levi and one day, when he grows up, he'll know that his mom fought for him and that justice was served," Anderson said.

This week, Christin is getting another step closer in her push to create Levi's Law.

She has a meeting scheduled with staff of Congresswoman Jennifer Kiggans, who represents the area where she now lives.

The good news for Levi is he's set to receive a skull replacement in April.

If all goes well, he'll be able to live without a helmet by the end this year.

For news updates, follow Jessica Harrington on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.