A 22-year-old Arizona man has been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly killing his four-week-old daughter, with police claiming he struck the baby because she would not stop crying.
Jonathan Enriquez, from Mesa, was arrested and also faces a felony child abuse charge following the infant’s death in July.
Mesa Police said officers responded at around 9 am on July 11 to reports of a newborn not breathing at an apartment complex on East Covina Street, around 20 miles east of Phoenix.
The caller initially told dispatchers the child had “choked while being fed a bottle.”
On arrival, emergency crews were handed the unresponsive girl and began life-saving measures before rushing her to the hospital in critical condition.
Investigators later learned Enriquez had been alone with the child when she stopped breathing. Detectives also noted the baby had injuries in “various stages of healing.”
Both parents were interviewed, but the police stated that there were inconsistencies in their accounts. The couple reportedly first claimed the injuries happened when the baby fell off a bed, contradicting the initial choking explanation.
Enriquez later told officers he had been “quite forceful” while changing the baby and said she would “hit herself,” which he claimed caused him frustration. He denied striking her but suggested her injuries might have occurred in a fall from a car seat or from being hit by a seatbelt buckle.
However, police say a search of Enriquez’s phone revealed that shortly before calling 911, he texted the child’s mother, urging her to come home because he had “messed up.”
The baby died from her injuries on 26 July. An autopsy found she had a fractured skull, brain bleed, broken leg, and multiple broken ribs. Medical examiners concluded the “catastrophic” trauma was likely caused by “slamming, crushing, or stomping.”
When confronted with the autopsy findings, Enriquez allegedly admitted to striking his daughter in the head as she lay in her bassinet because she was “crying too much.” Police say he expressed “deep remorse” over her death.
He is being held in Maricopa County Jail on $1 million bond and is due in court later this year.
Editing by M10News Crime Desk | Contact: crime@m10news.com
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