A Los Angeles woman was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on murder and assault charges stemming from her infant daughter’s death nearly six years ago.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge M.L. Villar said she found “more than sufficient cause” to allow the case against Ivette Melissa Gonzalez, 32, to proceed to trial in connection with the May 5, 2018, death of her nearly 10-month-old daughter, Selena.
Los Angeles Police Department Officer Hooman Nafissi and retired LAPD Detective Moses Castillo testified that Gonzalez told each of them in May 2018 to arrest her.
“She felt she caused the injuries, the death,” Nafissi testified under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Jonathan Hatami. “She was remorseful. She wanted to go to jail.”
Castillo testified that the woman “felt that she was responsible for the baby’s death.”
Under cross-examination by defense attorney Raoul Hutchens, the retired detective acknowledged that the mother of four told police that her children were her life.
Gonzalez was arrested in February 2019 and charged with one count each of murder and assault on a child causing death. She has remained jailed since then.
An autopsy concluded that the baby died from factors including the combined effects of probable asphyxia, blunt trauma and the effects of THC and two prescription medications detected through toxicological testing on the baby’s blood, according to testimony presented during the hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom.
But Dr. Julie Huss-Bawab, who worked for the coroner’s office at the time of the autopsy and left the office before the autopsy report was concluded, said she didn’t share the opinion involving probable asphyxia. She noted that she believed a form of pneumonia, the baby’s prematurity, the effects of the three drugs and various traumatic injuries contributed to the baby’s death.
Dr. Carol Berkowitz, a pediatrician who works as a pediatric consultant for the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office, testified that she reviewed a document that indicated the baby was not being breast-fed.
When asked about the drugs found in the baby’s system, Gonzalez said she had left pills scattered all over the house at the time, according to LAPD Detective Alina Gheta.
Gheta said she was not able to find any witnesses who saw the girl’s mother inflicting any of the injuries, including multiple fractures that were in various stages of healing.
Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Cody Weireter said firefighters responded to a parking lot that day in connection with a call of a baby that was not breathing, and found a “chaotic scene” in which a woman was performing chest compressions on the baby. He described the girl as “not breathing,” “blue in color” and “cold to the touch.”
Castillo — who responded to the hospital where the baby was pronounced dead that morning — said the girl’s mother described punching her in the stomach in an effort to expel rice that she thought was causing an obstruction.
The retired LAPD detective testified that he also noticed what he believed was a burn mark on the baby’s left leg, bruising on her face and arm and a puncture wound on her back, along with pieces of connecting tissue that were missing from the girl’s mouth.
Castillo said he subsequently discovered drug paraphernalia at the home of the mother, whom he said had tested positive for THC, the compound that gives marijuana its high, and opiates at the hospital.
Castillo said that the woman acknowledged that she had put a baby bottle in the girl’s mouth in a twisting motion, and that she claimed that the injury to the girl’s leg was caused when she became stuck in a stroller.
The woman’s husband backed up her account of how the girl’s leg had been injured earlier, and said the girl was fine when he left for work, according to Gheta.
Gonzalez is due back in court for arraignment Jan. 24.