Mesquite man charged with girlfriend in baby’s death; hear chilling 911 call for help

MESQUITE, New Mexico — A Mesquite man has been arrested in connection with the death of his girlfriend’s 5-month-old daughter last month, according to Doña Ana County Sheriff’s officials.

They said 23-year-old Israel Ramirez is facing one count of intentional child abuse resulting in the death of a child under 12 and one count of intentional child abuse resulting in great bodily harm of a child under 12.

Both charges are first-degree felonies.

The child’s mother — 23-year-old Danielle Lujan — is also facing charges of child abuse resulting in great bodily harm, also a first-degree felony.

Ramirez and Lujan were arrested last week and are being held without bond at the county jail. It was unclear if either Ramirez or Lujan has a lawyer yet.

On April 17, sheriff’s deputies responded to a 911 call regarding a 5-month-old infant who was unresponsive.

"Kamilah!" Ramirez yells in the 911 call as he performed CPR on the infant. "Kamilah!"

"I need an ambulance because my daughter’s not breathing," Lujan told an emergency operator. "She’s five months old. I can’t let this happen."

Court documents show Ramirez told first-responders that he had been watching the baby for a few hours while Lujan was at work.

He said he discovered the baby in her basinet, covered with a blanket and turning purple. Investigators said he held her "like a football" and jumped a wall to get help from a neighbor.

Authorities said the infant was taken by ambulance to a hospital in critical condition with multiple fractured ribs and brain injury and later died.

The court documents indicated the baby suffered from bruising, swelling, plus fractures in her bones that were both new and old. Doctors told authorities she showed signs of long-term child abuse.

(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)