Women, 28, is charged with murder of four-month-old baby girl in her care after she blamed toddler for pulling the infant off a changing table
- Samantha Mariel Angeles De La Rosa charged with second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse
- Florida woman is accused of hitting four-month-old baby’s head against wooden table because she wouldn’t stop crying
- Angeles allegedly tried to blame baby’s death on 21-month-old toddler, telling detective he pulled infant off of changing table
- Autopsy showed baby died from brain bleed caused by blunt force trauma and had older fractures to ribs and forearm in various stages of healing
Samantha Mariel Angeles De La Rosa, 28, has been charged with second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the beating death of a four-month-old baby girl
A 28-year-old Florida woman has been charged with murder and child abuse in the death of an infant who was left in her care, which authorities say she initially tried to blame on a toddler.
Samantha Mariel Angeles De La Rosa, of Winter Haven, was arrested on Wednesday in the death of the four-month-old girl, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement.
Angeles is charged with one count second-degree murder, and two counts aggravated child abuse.
Deputies were called to Angeles’ home before 10am on Tuesday and found the baby unresponsive with multiple bruises on her head, face and body, the sheriff’s statement said.
The baby was taken to Winter Haven Hospital, where she was pronounced dead an hour later.
Angeles told investigators that a 21-month-old toddler pulled the baby off of a changing table, causing her to fall to the floor, a report said.
She continued to tell various versions of her story, saying the toddler had been ‘rough’ with the baby previously, using toys to hit the baby in the face.
An autopsy revealed the baby had a fractured skull, which produced a brain bleed. The medical examiner said she died from blunt force trauma, not from falling 2-3 feet onto a carpeted floor, and ruled the death a homicide, the report said.
The infant died at Winter Haven Hospital in Florida on Tuesday, an hour after deputies found her unresponsive at Angeles’ home
Medical Examiner Dr. Stephen Nelson also determined two healing rib fractures and a healing fracture on the left forearm of the baby. He concluded that those three fractures were older ‘but were caused by significant force’ that was not consistent with an accident.
Angeles told detectives that previously she had pulled the baby out of the car seat too forcefully, and her arm got caught in the seatbelt. She also said that one time she ‘got mad and squeezed the victim hard around her abdomen, causing her to cry,’ according to the statement.
After the autopsy, investigators interviewed Angeles again. This time, she allegedly confessed to harming the infant.
The woman said on Tuesday morning, the baby started crying as she changed her diaper. Angeles said she began thinking about ‘how overwhelmed she is in life’ and then ‘lost it in a split second,’ the report said.
She told investigators she grabbed the baby by the shoulders and struck her head ‘hard’ twice against the changing table, the report said.
‘There is absolutely no excuse to hurt a baby,’ the sheriff said. ‘If anyone caring for a child is feeling overwhelmed or out of control, please seek help from family, friends, clergy, or a social services agency. Get help.’
Angeles’ past criminal record includes a 2016 conviction for driving without a valid license and a 2019 arrest on a charge of battery domestic violence, which was ultimately dismissed.