A Butler couple is charged with failing to get adequate medical care for their badly ill and injured baby boy.

The neglect, Butler police said, left the child near death.

Alonzo J. Fleischer, 23, and Brooke R. Fair Smith, 25, are both facing felony counts of child endangerment.

Fleischer, who was already in the Butler County Prison in connection with a separate child endangerment case, was arraigned Monday on the latest charge. Bail was set at $25,000.

District Judge William Fullerton on Monday issued an arrest warrant for Fair Smith.

Police said the defendants' baby, who is now 5 months old, was born with neonatal abstinence syndrome due to Fair Smith using methadone and marijuana while pregnant.

When the baby was released from Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh, according to investigators, the pediatrician treating him recommended visiting nurses make regular visits at the defendants' apartment to assess the child and, if needed, to administer care.

There were to be eight visits over a seven-week period. But nurses were only able to make two of those visits, police said, because Fleischer and Fair Smith would not answer the door or telephone, or return phone calls.

The parents subsequently “discharged (the baby) from the visiting nurses against medical advice,” court documents said.

The couple is also accused of not taking the child to his pediatrician for regular wellness checkups.

On Sept. 18, police Detective Sgt. David Villotti received three ChildLine reports that detailed maltreatment involving the baby.

In one example, documents said, the child received delayed care for hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of fluid on the brain. The delay reportedly placed the baby's life in danger.

Additionally, police said, the baby was later found with “severe neurological problems” for which he was not given required medical care due to the mother's neglect.

The baby on Sept. 17 was taken to Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh, according to one ChildLine report, due to concern for a brain injury.

An examination found the child had bilateral subdural hemorrhages that required neurosurgery. He also had three healing rib fractures.

“These injuries,” according to a police affidavit, “are highly concerning for physical child abuse.”

Villotti eventually obtained a search warrant for the baby's medical records from Magee, Children's and Butler Memorial Hospital, and the child's pediatrician.

The detective said he learned that when Fair Smith brought her son to the pediatrician on Sept. 17, “it had been nearly two months since (the baby) had been seen by a doctor.”

During police interviews, Villotti said, both defendants admitted they had concerns over the child's excessive crying, frequent vomiting and possibly being cross-eyed.

Yet despite those concerns, according to documents, Fair Smith and Fleischer “still did not take the child to be seen by a medical professional.”

Another pediatrician, who practices at Children's Hospital, also evaluated the baby and found he has suffered physical abuse.

“His injuries,” the pediatrician said, “caused substantial pain and likely permanent impairment.”

In addition, the child was found to be underweight and malnourished, a condition referred to as “failure to thrive.”

Villotti noted that by Fair Smith's and Fleischer's own admissions, they were “the only people who have ever been alone with (the baby).”

But the defendants have both denied wrongdoing, Villotti said Monday, and they insisted they did whatever they could for their child.

The baby is now in foster care and, the detective said, “is doing much better now and improving by leaps and bounds.”

Fair Smith has two other children — one a little under 2 years old and a 7-year-old — by another father, authorities said. She has custody of the younger child and the father has custody of the older child.

Fleischer is accused of leaving one of Fair Smith's other children, who was 6 months old at the time, home alone in July 2017 when he went to visit a neighbor. He is charged with a misdemeanor count of child endangerment.

He has been in the county prison since Sept. 27 in that previous endangerment case as well as for a probation violation.