Father faces homicide charges in death of infant


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A young father faces homicide charges after his baby daughter died. Police call it a case of shaken baby syndrome.

The man called 911 Monday afternoon to report the 4-month-old was not breathing. She has since died, and doctors determined she had been severely abused.

When paramedics arrived on Monday the little girl was not breathing and had no pulse. They revived her, but her injuries were too severe. Capt. Cliff Argyle, of the Provo Police Department, said, "Really at the time, just that the child had turned blue, and he really had no explanation at all, just that the child had stopped breathing."

Father faces homicide charges in death of infant

Paramedics started CPR, and at the hospital doctors discovered she had suffered abuse. Her father, 22-year-old Victor Gardea was arrested. "We did get a little better clarification from him about how those injuries occurred, and we found it was still from being physically abused," Argyle said.

The girl's mother was not home at the time, and the couple's 2-year-old son also was examined for possible signs of abuse. "That child has been examined by DCFS (Division of Child and Family Services) and was found to be healthy, and they didn't find any signs of abuse on that child," Argyle said.

Father faces homicide charges in death of infant

The children's mother now faces the loss of her daughter and the child's father in jail facing homicide charges. Argyle said, "She leaves home one morning and comes back, and her whole world has tipped upside down."

The suspect remains in jail and faces charges of child abuse homicide.

Immigration officials have placed a hold on him, meaning that questions over his immigration status will keep him behind bars indefinitely.

E-mail: spenrod@ksl.com

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