Jonathan Enriquez, Mesa, Arizona dad beats 4-week-old daughter to death for ‘crying too much’.
‘I messed up.’ An Arizona man accused of beating to his 4 week old daughter to death has admitted he may have gone too far.
Jonathan Enriquez of East Valley, AZ, was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with first-degree murder and felony child abuse in the slaying of his infant daughter last month.
The father’s arrest comes nearly four weeks after the girl was found with ‘catastrophic injuries’ at a Mesa apartment on the morning of July 11th and nearly two weeks after she finally succumbed to her injuries at hospital, AZFamily reported.
Court papers described police receiving reports of a baby not breathing at an apartment near University Drive and Gilbert Road. Officers arrived to find the infant unresponsive. First responders rushed the baby to the hospital in critical condition.
At the scene, police noted inconsistencies about what happened from both parents. They claimed that the baby had fallen off the bed, along with Enriquez admitting that he had been “quite forceful” while changing her diaper, telling detectives she would hit herself in the face. The dad admitted ‘frustration,’ but denied hitting the girl.
Investigators were also initially told that the baby choked while being fed a bottle. Enriquez then told two other stories to authorities, first claiming that the baby fell out of a car seat and into a stroller, hitting her head at least once. He then claimed that the baby was hit by a seat buckle, causing bruising around her eyes.
But there was more to come.
Investigators later learned that Enriquez had texted the mother who’d left for work, telling her she had to come home right away, saying the baby wasn’t breathing and he ‘messed up.’
At the hospital, doctors noted that she had a fractured skull, brain bleeding, and bruising around her eyes as well as a broken leg and rib bones, according to arresting documents. She remained hospitalized for 15 days until she died on July 26.
Court paperwork noted that an autopsy revealed injuries that appeared to be the result of ‘slamming, crushing, or stomping,’ and described the severity of many of those injuries as ‘catastrophic.’
On Wednesday, Mesa police interviewed Enriquez again, where he reportedly admitted to hitting the baby on the left side of her head because she had been ‘crying too much’ while she was in her bassinette. During that interview, he allegedly also admitted to swaddling her tightly to get her to stop crying.
Court documents say Enriquez expressed ‘deep remorse’ for his actions and said he was ashamed of himself. The father remains held at the Maricopa County jail on a $1 million bond.
