A 20-year-old Santa Ana man was charged Tuesday with killing his 3-month-old son and sexually assaulting the baby’s 14-year-old mother.
Jordan Peter Mendez is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 14 on one count each of murder and lewd or lascivious acts with a minor.
He was arrested after officers were dispatched at 8:42 p.m. Friday on a baby-not-breathing call in the 800 block of West Stevens Avenue, according to Santa Ana police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna.
Officers confirmed Tristan Cota La Verne Mendez wasn’t breathing and, along with Orange County Fire Authority personnel, performed CPR on the infant before taking him to Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Bertagna said.
Hospital staff found signs of physical trauma on the baby, who was placed on life support so his organs could be donated and a baptism could be done, Bertagna said. The infant was pronounced dead Monday, he said.
Mendez was watching his son Friday night and left home with the baby for awhile, according to Bertagna. When he returned home, the baby’s mother noticed her son was struggling to breathe, the corporal said.
An autopsy was done today, but the cause of the infant’s death remains undetermined, according to Lt. Jeff Hallock of the Orange County Sheriff’s- Coroner’s Office. Investigators are awaiting toxicology test results.
Bail was set at $1 million for Mendez, who had been the subject of an arrest warrant after being declared a fugitive in an identity theft case filed in April 2014. The arrest warrant was issued Nov. 7.
— City News Service