LICON TRIAL: El Paso Police Officer tells 911 operator, ‘I killed my son!”

Jurors in the trial of Raymond Licon Jr. – the El Paso Police officer charged in the drowning death of his baby son – heard the painful 911 call in which the officer is heard screaming and telling the operator, “I killed my son!”

During opening arguments Monday, the prosecution told the jury Licon placed his 11-month-old son, Azrael Ezekiel Licon, in the bathtub, turned on the water and walked away while he argued with his ex-wife via text messages. Prosecutors claim Licon left the baby unattended far too long, and the water not only flooded the bathroom, but began flowing down the stairs as well.

Licon Jr., who remains with the El Paso Police Department on desk duty, is charged with Abandoning and Endangering A Child, Reckless Injury to A Child and Negligent Homicide. The jury consists of five women and eight men.

During Tuesday’s proceedings, Licon appeared to be attentive and did not show any signs of outward emotion. He watched each person intensely as they addressed the court, from the defense to the prosecution and the Judge. He also attempted to make eye contact with each of the jurors as they left the courtroom, with only one – a woman – looking in his direction.

According to a complaint affidavit obtained by ABC-7, Licon was arguing with his ex-wife for approximately 45 minutes. When the officer found the unresponsive baby in the bathtub, he immediately began performing CPR and called 911, the document states.

Paramedics arrived at the scene on the 3000 block of Zion Drive to find the 11-month-old boy without signs of life. The child was transported to UMC, where he was pronounced dead. According to the affidavit, Licon told investigators he blamed himself for the child’s death.

In court Tuesday, the jury heard Licon’s call to 911. As jurors listened, Licon shook and sobbed, burying himself in the arms of a woman in his defense team. He embraced the woman for almost the entire 911 call.

In the phone call, Licon is heard screaming: “Oh my God! My beautiful (expletive) son! I killed him! Oh my God! Please breath! It’s my fault!” Licon continued to scream for the duration of the entire call.

There were approximately 25 people sitting in the gallery Tuesday. During the 911 call, nearly half of them had tears running down their faces. A few members of the jury also appeared noticeably upset. A female member of the jury was looking up to the ceiling holding back tears.

Licon’s mother excused herself before the 911 call was played, telling her family, “I don’t think I can do this. It’s too hard. He’ll understand.”

An expert witness called to the stand Tuesday ruled the death of the boy an accident. Dr. Janis Diaz, a medical examiner for the County of El Paso, told jurors she performed the boy’s autopsy and determined the manner of death to be an accident. Diaz stated she did not consider the drowning to be a homicide, because Licon did not “intentionally” do anything that led the child to die. She testified that because there wasn’t even an “indirect” intention that caused the drowning, she classified it as an accident.

Testimony Tuesday ended with the defense motioning for a directed verdict – which means the defense attorney – Thomas Hughes was asking for the judge to make an immediate ruling, without the jury. Hughes argued Licon did not consciously disregard the danger when he left his son in the bathtub that night in June of 2017. Judge Susan Larson denied the motion.