Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
- A Magna man was arrested for allegedly killing his 1-month-old son.
- The infant had rib fractures and brain hemorrhages, suggesting forceful handling.
- The father, Armando Valenzuela, denies causing harm; no charges filed yet.
MAGNA — A 25-year-old Magna man was arrested Friday and is accused of killing his 1-month-old son.
Doctors say 36-day-old Giovanni Valenzuela was "active and irritable" but "alert" during a pediatrician appointment at around 1 p.m. on March 14, according to a police booking affidavit.
Just hours later, around 8 p.m., police received reports of a child who stopped breathing, the affidavit says. Responders found the baby had a pulse, but "was not responsive and appeared to be limp."
Unified Fire Authority took the infant to Primary Children's Hospital, where X-rays and CT scans revealed the baby's eyes were not properly responding to light, he had rib fractures, both current and in various stages of healing, as well as "a significant amount of bleeding in multiple areas" of the brain, according to the police statement.
Doctors say the rib fractures could be attributed to "forceful squeezing," and the brain hemorrhage was possibly caused by "infant shaking, forceful impact and similar forceful handling," the affidavit says.
"They are not the result of benign typical infant handling and are not explained by underlying genetic or hematologic condition," according to the report; Giovanni Valenzuela was initially listed as being critically ill, and died on March 17.
The baby's father, Armando Valenzuela, told police the boy was "in his swing in the family room. Giovanni was fussy, so his father picked up the child" and took him to the kitchen to make a bottle, the booking report says. When Armando Valenzuela set the child down on the counter, he said the boy "began to scream even louder ... he picked up the child and the child went limp."
The mother told police "he had been fussy earlier in the day. She also stated that during a diaper change, Giovanni was fussy," according to the affidavit. She left the house around 7:50 p.m., and got a call at 8:07 p.m. from Armando Valenzuela "saying the baby wasn't breathing," and she told him to immediately call 911, the booking report says.
Both parents denied any significant falls, drops or other traumatic events to the boy, but the mother told police "Giovanni would typically only go into his loud screams when he was alone in the bedroom with (his father)."
Armando Valenzuela, in an interview with police, suggested "the nurses handled Giovanni rougher than he believed they should," and the doctor might have caused the baby's injuries when pulling him out during the cesarean-section birth, or that the boy was injured during CPR on March 14, according to the affidavit.
When police told the father the baby's injuries were not consistent with that account, the booking document says, "Armando went quiet, and after some time passed, he said he just misses his son."
He was arrested on Friday and booked into Salt Lake County Jail. No charges have been filed yet.
