"Infant John" HERNANDEZ - 1 yo (2008) - Arab AL

An Arab AL woman accused of capital murder in the
January 2008 death of her 1-year-old infant pleaded guilty Thursday to
aggravated child abuse. Marshall County Circuit Judge Tim Jolley
sentenced her to 20 years in prison, and she will be deported when she
is released.

Perla Edith Hernandez, 28, of Lowery Road has been
in the Marshall County Jail since her arrest more than three years ago.
Her boyfriend, Ambrocio Ramirez-Vite, 30, pleaded guilty last year to
murder and aggravated child abuse in the baby's death. He was sentenced
to life in prison plus 10 years. He is not the baby's father.

An autopsy showed that the baby died of blunt force trauma to the head. The baby also had bite marks on his body.

Authorities still don't know what happened to the baby.

"Neither
the mother or her boyfriend admitted what happened," Marshall County
District Attorney Steve Marshall said. "The mother told hospital
officials the baby fell off the bed and hit his head, but we've
consulted with many experts and none of them believes that story.

"All
we know is the baby died of blunt force trauma to the head, he had
bruises on his face and he suffered from some kind of burns," he
continued.


The case has bothered Marshall since day one.

"You
have a 1-year-old baby burned, and he died from head injuries," he
said. "We have worked with Marshall Medical Center North folks on this
case, and they have seen some tragic cases, but this one really bothered
them, too. Everyone involved in the case passionately wanted justice
for this baby."

Marshall said the mother pleaded guilty but admitted to nothing.

"Her
defense lawyers obtained a written statement from the boyfriend
(Ramirez-Vite) in which he claimed responsibility for all the injuries
to the child, but he didn't say what happened," Marshall said.

Marshall said the case
wouldn't have been solved as easily without the work of hospital
personnel and Arab police investigator Sgt. Dan Henry.
"They did a tremendous job in helping us," he said. "Without them, it would have been difficult to find justice for this baby."

Henry said he is glad the case is over.

"Because of the baby's age and the extent of injuries he sustained, it's just one of the worst cases I've ever seen," he said.

Henry said he is happy that Hernandez received a long prison sentence.

"She
will be deported when her time is done, and if she comes back here and
is caught, because she was deported as a convicted felon, she could
serve 10 more years in federal prison for coming back," he said.

According
to police reports, on Jan. 1, 2008, Ramirez-Vite and Hernandez brought
the baby to the emergency room at Marshall Medical Center North.

He had severe bruising all over his body and died the next day.

"He
had bite marks on his legs," Henry said. "And he had what appeared to
be a healing burn mark on his side. The medical staff at (MMCN) tried to
revive the child but was unsuccessful."

Hernandez's other two
children, ages 2 and 4, had no visible injuries. They are in foster care
through the Marshall County Department of Human Resources.

Arab police said the couple is in this country illegally.

"Our
successful resolution to this case would not have been possible without
the outstanding investigative work of Sgt. Dan Henry," Marshall stated.
"Henry served as lead investigator in this case."

Marshall
further commended the work of all law enforcement and other agencies
that assisted in this investigation, including APD, Boaz Police
Department, Marshall County Sheriff's Department, the Alabama Department
of Forensic Sciences, and his own staff.
http://www.thearabtribune.com/articles/2011/10/10/news/news3.txt