Police say meth baby was abused
SBSUN - Rod Leveque, Staff Writer - Article Launched: 09/14/2007 11:10:37 PM PDT
RANCHO CUCAMONGA - A mother who said she mistakenly swabbed her baby's nose with a methamphetamine-laced Q-tip told police that her parolee boyfriend refused to allow her to take the child to the hospital for fear that he would be sent back to prison, according to police reports made public this week.
Elizabeth Reta told detectives that instead of seeking proper medical help for her 8-month-old son, Samuel, her boyfriend, Juan "Johnny" Sanchez, tried for three days to get the child "off the high" by tying him to a bed, shaking him, slapping him and splashing him with cold water.
"She said she would beg Johnny to stop hitting the child, but he would tell her he knew what he was doing," according to the reports.
Little Samuel Reta fell even more ill and eventually died from the alleged abuse, police say.
His mother and Sanchez are now in jail facing a murder charge.
They have pleaded not guilty, and both are scheduled to return to West Valley Superior Court on Monday for a pre-preliminary hearing conference.
Sanchez, 32, was convicted of robbery in 2001 and deported, but apparently returned to the country illegally, authorities said.
Elizabeth Reta, 28, worked for a child-care center in Covina before her arrest on Aug. 30.
The police reports, which are contained in the court file, offer new details on the dreadful last days of Samuel, mostly based upon the accounts given to police by Reta and Sanchez.
Reta told police she used a Q-tip she found on her kitchen table to swab her son's itchy nose following a bath sometime around Aug. 25.
Soon after, the boy began to behave oddly, moving his hands and feet in strange ways, she told police.
When she alerted Sanchez, he called her "stupid," and told her she had used a Q-tip that he keeps for cleaning his meth pipe, she said.
Reta told detectives that as Samuel began to react to the drugs, Sanchez spanked him and repeatedly slapped him on the face.
She said that when Samuel did not "snap out of it," she saw Sanchez throw the child on the floor. She also said Sanchez tied Samuel to a bed, according to the reports.
The next day, Samuel still appeared to be in a daze, and Sanchez kept hitting the baby in the chest and buttocks, Reta told police.
This sort of thing went on for several days, Reta said. During that time Sanchez again tied the child to the bed and repeatedly hit him on the chest, according to the reports.
Finally, on Aug. 29, she said Samuel struggled to breath, and she was awakened by the sounds of him gurgling and gasping. She said she gave the boy CPR, and then called 911, over the objections of Sanchez.
She told police, Sanchez hid in a closet while paramedics tended to the child.
Samuel was taken to the hospital, where doctors determined that he suffered from pneumonia, a broken arm, broken rib, an apparent bite mark on the arm and injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome.
A drug screening was negative.
Both Reta and Sanchez were arrested Aug. 30.
Samuel died at the hospital the next day.
During an interview with police, Sanchez admitted to some of the behavior Reta recounted, but described it to police in less severe terms, according to the reports.
He told detectives he spanked Samuel, lightly slapped him on the face, and hit him "a little on the chest," but only in attempts to help the child come off the drugs.
"He said he did not hit the child hard," the reports say. "He said all this went on for two days."
He denied tying Samuel to a bed, saying the closest thing he did was set a pillow atop the child's left hand so he would not put it in his mouth. He said Reta, however, did tie the boy's hand with a bandana, according to the reports.
Although he said he only meant to help the child, he conceded that he may have gone overboard and shook Samuel too hard, according to the reports.
An autopsy was done on Samuel last week. The preliminary cause of death appears to be abusive head trauma, although officials said they are still awaiting the results of toxicology and other tests before reaching a final conclusion.
Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson said Friday that no major developments had been made in the investigation since the arrests.
http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_6900888
- for Samuel
Linear Mode
