Enma Medina and Elida Ofelia Medina-Ramos Palisades Park NJ women charged with death of Genesis Catalan-Medina, 11 month old baby girl, after giving her lethal dose of magnesium to treat constipation.
Two Palisades Park, NJ women have been arrested following the death of an 11 month old girl in December after the child’s mother and grandmother gave the child a lethal dose of magnesium in a bid to treat constipation.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Enma Medina, 38, brought Genesis Catalan-Medina to the apartment of her mother, Elida Ofelia Medina-Ramos, 73, around 8 a.m. on Dec. 7 because the girl was sick.
Medina-Ramos told investigators she massaged the baby’s stomach and treated her with a liquid substance consisting of magnesium, olive oil and water, administered via oral syringe, to alleviate constipation, according to the affidavit cited by NJ.com.
At around 8:30 a.m., Palisades Park police responded to a 911 call that reported a child having a medical episode, prosecutors said. The infant was found unconscious and not breathing, then was taken by ambulance to Hackensack University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
A toxicology report revealed the child, who was five days from her first birthday, had a high level of magnesium in her system – 22 mg/dL. A report on the National Institutes of Health website says anything over 15 mg/dL can cause a coma and cardiac arrest.
Unlicensed to practise medicine in the US
According to the affidavit, Medina-Ramos, a citizen of Guatemala, acknowledged she isn’t licensed to practice medicine in the United States but had been treating children for many years – including Medina’s now 15-year-old son when he was a child.
The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office said Medina-Ramos, who works as a waitress, was charged with aggravated manslaughter, unauthorized practice of medicine and child endangerment. The aggravated manslaughter accusation is a first-degree charge, while the other two allege third-degree crimes according to nj1015.com.
The mother is being held at Bergen County Jail pending a court hearing.
Medina, who is unemployed, was charged with child endangerment, a second-degree crime. The grandmother has since been released.
