SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio woman who critically injured a 15-month-old girl in her care was ordered to begin serving a 20-year prison sentence immediately on Monday, after a judge denied her motion to further delay sentencing.
Marissa Salas, 23, was handcuffed and taken from the courtroom by a bailiff as her supporters sobbed in the gallery of 437th District Court.
Her attorneys asked Judge Joel Perez to delay sentencing another two months, as an ongoing custody fight over her 6-week-old son plays out in civil court.
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“The custody battle over there: honestly, I don’t have a dog in that fight,” Perez said in court on Monday. “You’re here to answer for the injuries that the child in this case incurred.”
Civil court judge had Salas’ 4-day-old son kept at courthouse following custody hearing
Last month, a civil court judge had the then-4-day-old baby taken from Salas and kept at the Bexar County Courthouse until he could be handed over to Child Protective Services.
The Oct. 7 order from Judge Mary Lou Alvarez caused significant backlash, as the decision was made before CPS or the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office was involved in the case.
Alvarez confirmed the father’s paternity but ruled him and Salas unfit to care for the child, the judge’s handwritten docket notes show.
Alvarez’s docket notes indicate the father had tested positive for THC and Salas was set to be sentenced in the unrelated felony child abuse case.
The judge’s decision prompted a scathing rebuke from the DA’s office days later in a letter sent to CPS.
The letter, written by Bexar County DA Civil Division Chief Larry Roberson, sought an administrative review of Alvarez’s “extraordinary actions.”
“The court, in the absence of any petition filed by this Office, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, or any other governmental entity, unilaterally determined that the biological parents were unfit and that the four-day old infant was in imminent danger of harm,” Roberson wrote. “While this Office recognizes the Court’s inherent authority to take emergency action under appropriate circumstances in exigent instances to protect an infant from imminent danger, the facts of this matter could raise substantial due-process, statutory, and constitutional concerns.”
Legal experts who spoke to KSAT about Alvarez’s decision were torn on whether the judge acted appropriately.
Meredith Chacon, a former supervisor of the DA’s child abuse and neglect section, called Alvarez’s order unusual but not unprecedented in Bexar County.
“A district court judge has heard something that raises to a level of concern. I do believe she has the authority to demand that the department (CPS) come and look into it, to demand that they take custody at that moment, perhaps,” Chacon said. “If she had sent the baby home and something had happened, what would we be sitting here saying?”
In June 2022, Bexar County Sheriff’s deputies found a 15-month-old girl in Salas’ care with severe injuries, which included burn marks, a fractured skull and a brain bleed.
Salas was sentenced to 20 years in prison in April in the case.
However, under an agreement reached this summer between prosecutors and Salas’ defense attorney, Salas was allowed to stay out of jail until after her baby was born, due to it being a high-risk pregnancy.
In late October, Alvarez ordered Salas’ newborn to be returned to her care.
In the court order, Alvarez said the DA’s “unprecedented and abnormal” letter and CPS failing to intervene in the case contributed to her decision.
Chaotic start to baby’s life
Prior to sentencing Salas on Monday, Perez noted that the court had worked with her to ensure that her and her baby’s life were not put in peril and that those goals had now been accomplished.
An attorney familiar with the custody case told KSAT on Monday that Salas’ baby has been in the care of five different people within the first six weeks of his life.
“We don’t know where the child is,” an attorney for the boy’s father told KSAT on Monday.
The father’s attorney said they believe the baby is in the care of one of Salas’ family members.
The attorney said they have requested that CPS help them locate the child’s whereabouts.
Once that is accomplished, attorneys for the father will ask the civil court for an emergency hearing to determine custody.
The attorney pointed out that after the father tested positive for THC at court, he was drug tested at a certified lab and those results came back negative.
Additionally, the baby was in the care of the father’s aunt and uncle for a portion of October and there were no issues.
A CPS spokeswoman on Monday released the following statement to KSAT.
“CPS currently has an open investigation regarding this family. Although details of investigations are confidential by law, I can confirm that DFPS/CPS does not have custody of the child. If there is more I can share, I’ll be sure to send an update your way.”
Child Protective Services
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