A baby who died last week in Grand Prairie was physically abused before his death, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit.
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Grand Prairie police on Nov. 21 announced the arrest of Susaneth Pazarez-Nunez, 20, and Fernando Vega Diaz, 23, in the death of the 1-year-old child. They both face a charge of injury to a child causing death.
According to an arrest affidavit for Vega Diaz, Pazarez-Nunez is the baby’s mother, while Vega Diaz is the mother’s boyfriend. Police were called to a residence in the 1200 block of Huddleston Drive at about 1:30 a.m. after receiving a call about a CPR in progress.
The call notes advised that the baby was bruised, not conscious and not breathing. The baby was taken to the hospital, and pronounced dead just after 2 a.m.
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Police spoke with Pazarez-Nunez, the affidavit said, who told police the baby appeared to be in discomfort earlier in the evening and had an inflamed torso, and later had irregular breathing as his lips turned blue. Neither Pazarez-Nunez nor Vega Diaz mentioned the bruising on the baby, police wrote in the affidavit.
Both Pazarez-Nunez and Vega Diaz agreed to be transported to the Grand Prairie Police Department to be interviewed about the incident. According to the affidavit, Pazarez-Nunez agreed to speak with detectives, and told them Vega Diaz had moved in with her about a month prior and had been abusing both her and the baby.
According to the affidavit, Pazarez-Nunez told police Vega Diaz would hit the baby, smother him and choke him, and at one point bit the child. Attempts to intervene would result in Vega Diaz hitting and strangling her too, Pazarez-Nunez said. She said she was too afraid of Vega Diaz to report the abuse to police.
During his interview with police, Vega Diaz admitted to hitting, choking and biting the child, and said he did so because the baby would not stop crying. He also alleged that Pazarez-Nunez also abused the child, the affidavit said.
Both were arrested and taken to the Grand Prairie jail on Nov. 21, police said. Vega Diaz was transferred Wednesday to the Dallas County jail, where in addition to the injury to a child charge, he is also being held on an immigration detainer, indicating he may be in the country illegally. Bond was not set as of Wednesday afternoon.
A representative of the Grand Prairie jail said Pazarez-Nunez was still in the custody of the jail as of Wednesday morning. Her bond was set at $300,000 for the injury to a child charge, and she too is being held on an immigration detainer, according to the jail.