Wednesday, August 13, 2003

Baby's parents arrested

Detectives on Monday arrested the parents of a baby boy left alone in a car for nine hours before being found dead Sunday morning in Northeast El Paso, police said.

Robert Anthony Paredes, 33, and Jennifer Case, 22, were arrested Monday and charged with injury to a child, police said.

Detectives were looking at the death as a case of negligence, but the investigation continues, police spokesman Javier Sambrano said. An autopsy will be performed to determine the cause of death.

The couple allegedly left their 14-month-old son in his car seat overnight in a locked car parked at the Patriot Hills Apartments, 5725 Fairbanks, where they live, police said.

Detectives with the Crimes Against Persons unit learned the couple and their 4-year-old daughter and baby son had returned to their home in the apartment complex at 2:30 a.m. Sunday and discovered it had been burglarized, officials said.

Case took the girl from the back seat of the car, but the baby boy, whom police did not name, was left sleeping in his car seat in the locked car with the windows up, officials said.

"The couple did not check on the child or the vehicle assuming that the other had taken the child out of the vehicle," a police news release said.

Case awoke at 11:30 a.m. Sunday and began to look for the baby inside the home, police said. When the couple went outside, they discovered the baby in his car seat locked in the car.

Police arrived at 11:45 a.m. but found the boy "without signs of life."