Thread: Cops: Toddler smothered with dirty diaper

June 3, 2009 12:55 PM | 4 Comments
Relatives of slain Posen toddler Yvette Palacios today were trying to come to terms with news that her baby-sitter's boyfriend has been charged with her murder.

Juan Melendez-Reynoso, 31, was charged last week with smothering 22-month-old Yvette with a dirty diaper in a fit of rage at his home May 24.

"He was angry that she'd soiled herself so he suffocated her with the diaper," Det. Sgt. Bob Quirk said.

Melendez-Reynoso, an illegal-immigrant who is considered a flight risk, was denied bond by Cook County Judge Edward Antonietti at the Markham Courthouse Saturday, said Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for the Cook County state's attorney's office.

He is charged with first-degree murder and is in custody in Cook County Jail.

Authorities initially believed there was strong evidence that a badly bruised Yvette was raped before she was killed, but Quirk said the delayed results of an autopsy revealed no conclusive signs of sexual abuse.

The Illinois Department for Children and Family Services has taken Melendez-Reynoso's child into care, he added.

Yvette's babysitter, Natalia Pineda, at first told police Yvette died after falling and hitting her head while using her bed as a trampoline at the family's upstairs apartment on the 14300 block of Division Street. Yvette normally lived with her mother on the first floor of the same building, but her mother was enjoying a Saturday night out when Yvette died, authorities say.

Pineda had told police that Melendez-Reynoso had helped her try to revive the child in the shower, authorities said. But Quirk said that there was no evidence of a fatal fall. Pineda has not been charged with a crime.

Detectives from the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force were "always leery of the story" Pineda and Melendez-Reynoso told, he said, praising Spanish-speaking police officers from Chicago Heights, Oak Forest, Blue Island and the Illinois State Police for their "crucial" role in cracking the case.

Yvette's cousin Rocio Perez said her family had expected the charges to come but that they were still "shocked" to learn how police say Yvette died.

The Cook County medical examiner's office has yet to rule formally on the cause of Yvette's death, a spokesman said today.

Melendez-Reynoso is next due in court June 23.

-- Kim Janssen
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009 ... lling.html

Take a look at the "Mugs in the News" link on the left...

oh my lord no... not the babies

FAMILY VALUES

This is an extremely sad story. I'm sure I woud have slept better tonight if I would have skipped reading this thread.

This is a horrible story that demonstrates the evil nature of the third world slug population that Obama and his Democrate aka Communists are planning on giving Amnesty to before the Summer's over..........

Police: Posen man suffocated toddler with dirty diaper
Comments

June 4, 2009

By Kristen Schorsch and Becky Schlikerman, Staff writers
A Posen man accused of killing a toddler allegedly smothered the child with her dirty diaper.

Bail has been denied for Juan Melendez-Reynoso, 31, of 14331 Division St., who was charged Friday with first-degree murder in the suffocation of 22-month-old Ivette Palacios on May 24, the Cook County state's attorney's office said Wednesday.

A judge denied bail because authorities consider Melendez-Reynoso, who is an illegal resident from Mexico, a flight risk, Posen Deputy Police Chief Vickie Paggi said.

Police say Melendez-Reynoso was baby-sitting Ivette with his girlfriend, who for years has been watching the toddler and her two brothers, when the baby soiled herself.

"She started crying," Paggi said. "He became angry and took the diaper that the baby soiled on and suffocated her."

Ivette's family has said they had problems recently with the sitter, who refused to answer the door for the toddler's family while she was watching the girl at least once.

But none of the children ever had been harmed before, they said.

Ivette's paternal grandfather, Refugio Palacios, said his son Usvaldo always was suspicious of Melendez-Reynoso and his girlfriend - the baby sitter - and that he argued with Ivette's mom about it.

"But the mom was the boss," Palacios said in Spanish.

Paggi said authorities do not expect to charge anyone else, but Refugio Palacios doesn't think that's right. He said the baby sitter should be held responsible.

"She should be charged as well - she was there, she's an accomplice" he said. "Why didn't she call the police right away?"

Palacios also said the toddler's mom should be charged because she wasn't there. Instead, mother Maria Martinez was out dancing, he said.

Palacios' other grandkids, who are 3 and 4, are scared they'll be back in the care of Melendez-Reynoso, he said.

"They probably saw everything that happened or he treated them badly," he said.

Melendez-Reynoso is in custody at the Cook County Jail. He is due in court June 23.


Kristen Schorsch can be reached at kschorsch@southtownstar.com or (70 633-5992.

Becky Schlikerman can be reached at bschlikerman@southtownstar.com or (70 802-8813.

http://www.southtownstar.com/news/16069 ... er.article