Affidavit Details Alleged Abuse By Mom In 4-Year-Old Son’s Death; Mom’s Lawyer Says Death Was Accident

Update March 23, 2011

ABC-7 has learned much more about an East El Paso woman accused of killing her 4-year-old son.

Vikki Macias is facing a count of capital murder. But the injury that led to her son’s death was not the first sign of abuse, according to police documents.

ABC-7 got a hold of the police complaint affidavit in this case. It details not only the injuries little Dallas Ryan Macias suffered last week but also makes reference to a possible history of abuse.

“We would hear the baby crying a lot, lots of fighting, her yelling,” a neighbor, who wanted to remain anonymous, told ABC-7. “I would see her outside with him. I never saw him walking around or anything.”

The affidavit also states investigators are in possession of statements and reports that outline a history of abuse by Macias. ABC-7 requested those reports, but have not received them yet.

According to the complaint affadavit, Dallas suffered a fracture to his neck and swelling of the brain.

“It takes a tremendous amount of force to be able to cause this type of injury,” El Paso Pediatrician Dr. Jose Prieto told ABC-7.

The complaint affidavit states Vikki Macias told police her son fell off the bed. Dr. Prieto says that’s possible, but not likely.

“The amount of force necessary to cause that kind of injury is pretty substantial,” Dr. Prieto said. “Usually, it’s falling from a high surface or going through a windshield in a car.”

Macias’ attorney told ABC-7 she’s innocent.

“I’m going to tell you flat out,” Macias’ attorney Justin Underwood said, “She did not do this.”

So what did happen in that home on March 12th?

“She said she was doing laundry,” Underwood said. “He’s in his room one minute, next minute there’s a loud noise. They go in there and he’s unresponsive.”

Underwood said his client took her son to the hospital immediately.

“This was an accident,” Underwood said. “It was an accident.”

He said Macias, who remains in jail without bond, is devastated by the death of her son.

“She is in shock,” Underwood said. “The number one thing she’s worried about is making final arrangements for her child. When you have a dead four year old and no one saw what happened, someone is going to get blamed and unfortunately in this case it’s the mother of the child who is absolutely and completely devastated.”

The investigation also revealed the four-year-old had a broken leg, which had gone untreated. And that may explain why neighbors told us Macias was always carrying the boy.

Previous Story March 21, 2011: The El Paso Police Department has arrested a mother in the death of her 4-year-old son earlier this month, according to El Paso Police.

Vikki Macias, 26, of the 3400 block of Waterside, turned herself in at the Central Regional Command Center on Monday after a capital murder arrest warrant was issued for her. Dallas Ryan Macias was taken to an area hospital with a serious head injury on March 12 and died the next day.

Macias was booked into the El Paso County Jail on Monday on the Capital Murder charge. There was no bond issued. Dallas is the 11th homicide of 2011, according to police. The Jane Doe death from March 15, 2011 at 9500 N. Loop becomes the 12th homicide of 2011.