Man charged with capital murder in baby's death in Edinburg
April 18, 2011 10:25 PM

EDINBURG — A man accused of beating a 16-month-old baby boy to death was charged with capital murder Monday morning.



Reynosa native Jose Luis Garcia, 21, admitted to Hidalgo County sheriff’s investigators he punched and bit his common-law wife’s son because the child wouldn’t stop crying while he was trying to sleep early Saturday morning, Cmdr. John Montemayor said.



Deputies were called about 5 a.m. Saturday by staff at Edinburg Children’s Hospital, 1102 W. Trenton Road, after 16-month-old Jorge Damian Guajardo arrived unresponsive, Montemayor said. Doctors who were trying to revive Jorge noticed bruising and bite marks throughout the baby’s body, he said.



Garcia initially told investigators he had awaken about 4 a.m. to see a hard-of-breathing Jorge vomiting through his nose and mouth and suffering from diarrhea, Montemayor said.



The family, whose home sits east of Terry Road on Mile 17 North, does not have a cell phone or any other type of communication device so they took the baby to a Stripes convenience store near the intersection of Schunior Road and U.S. 281, he said. That’s where medical personnel arrived to transport Jorge to the hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.



An emergency autopsy was conducted, and the pathologist determined the boy had died as a result of blunt-force trauma to the head, internal bleeding and hemorrhaging, the commander said.



Garcia admitted to the beating after questioning by investigators.



"He admitted he got impatient because the baby was crying, and he basically punched the baby several times and covered his mouth so he could stop crying," Montemayor said.



The mother, whose identity was not disclosed, was sleeping in a separate room with another newborn child at the time of the beating, he added.



"We asked the suspect, ‘Did the mother hear?’ And he said, ‘No, every time the baby cried I would smoother his mouth to keep him from crying,’" Montemayor said. "So that’s why she wasn’t able to hear or determine what was going on."



The woman’s two other children — a 4-year-old and a 1-month-old — were removed from the home by Family Protective Services, Montemayor said.



No criminal charges have been filed for the mother, but deputies continue to investigate the couple’s history. Investigators believe Garcia and his common-law wife, both undocumented immigrants, moved to Edinburg five months ago.



Deputies ran a background search for Garcia, but there is no record of him being deported or committing a crime in the United States, Montemayor said.



Judge Charlie Espinoza assessed Garcia a $500,000 bond. If convicted of capital murder, he could face life imprisonment or the death penalty.


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