Mesquite mom indicted in 5-month-old daughter’s death
UPDATE, May 21: A Mesquite woman was indicted Friday on felony charges for the death of her 5-month-old daughter.
Prosecutors announced indictments against 23-year-old Danielle Lujan on charges of Child Abuse Resulting in Death and Intentional Child Abuse.
Authorities said Lujan will remain held without bond in the Doña Ana County Detention Center while she awaits trial.
Charges are also pending against her boyfriend, 23-year-old Israel Ramirez, in connection with the child's death. Ramirez is currently free on bail.
UPDATE, May 13: A Dona Ana County judge on Thursday ordered the mother of 5-month-old girl who died from child abuse held without bond until her trial.
The decision by District Court Judge Richard Jaquez came just two days after he granted bond to the Mesquite woman's boyfriend, who is also charged in the case.
Jaquez found 23-year-old Danielle Lujan posed a danger to the community, as he did her boyfriend, 23-year-old Israel Ramirez. The difference is Lujan was denied bond, while Ramirez was allowed to post $25,000 and be released. Prosecutors had sought to keep both jailed until trial.
In denying bond to Lujan, the judge said as the primary caregiver, she was negligent in taking the baby to a doctor and lied about it.
Lujan is charged with child abuse resulting in great bodily harm, a first-degree felony. But Ramirez is facing two felony counts: Child abuse resulting in the death of a child under 12 and one felony count of intentional child abuse resulting in great bodily harm of a child under 12.
ORIGINAL REPORT, May 11: MESQUITE, New Mexico -- One of two 23-year-olds arrested following the death of a five-month-old girl was released on bond Tuesday despite a judge calling him a danger to the community, prosecutors said.
23-year-old Israel Ramirez of Mesquite is facing one felony count of intentional child abuse resulting in the death of a child under 12 and one felony count of intentional child abuse resulting in great bodily harm of a child under 12.
"Today District Court Judge Richard Jaquez found the defendant to be dangerous but ruled the court could fashion release conditions reasonably tailored to protect the community and ordered defendant released on conditions including posting a $25,000 secured bond," said a statement issued by District Attorney Gerald Byers.
Word of Ramirez's release from jail drew the ire of many in the community.
"This is a person who would batter, abuse and ultimately kill an infant," reacted Doña Ana County Sheriff Kim Stewart during a news conference. "It is a danger to our community. It is a danger to our qualify of life. It is a danger to our future."
"I just have a question for him," said Jaleene Lujan, the deceased baby's aunt. "How long would you want your children to live for? 20 years? 30 years? 50 years? 100 years? That’s how long you should be locked up and never come out."
Ramirez is the boyfriend of the infant’s mother — 23-year-old Danielle Lujan — who is also facing charges of child abuse resulting in great bodily harm, a first-degree felony.
Lujan is still awaiting her pre-trial detention hearing in the Doña Ana County Detention Center, officials said Tuesday.
"Kamilah! Kamilah!" Ramirez could be heard yelling in a 911 call, obtained by ABC-7, as he performed CPR on the infant, Kamilah Hernandez, on the day she died.
The unresponsive child was taken by paramedics to University Medical Center in El Paso, where authorities said she later died from injuries that included fractured ribs, a fractured tibia, and brain bleed.
Doctors told authorities they believed the girl was a victim of child abuse and shaken baby syndrome and the couple was arrested and charged last week.
