MAGNA, Utah — A Magna man was arrested on charges of allegedly killing his infant son, who was only a few weeks old.
Armando Valenzuela, 25, was taken into custody on Friday on charges of murder and aggravated child abuse.
On March 14, police were called to the Magna apartment where Valenzuela and the boy's mother live after receiving a call that the couple's son, Giovanni, was unconscious and not breathing. Giovanni was born on February 12.
Upon arriving, an officer noticed the baby was not responsive and appeared to be limp. According to the arrest report, Valenzuela had claimed on the 911 call that Giovanni was in his swing and was fussy, so he picked up the baby and took him to the kitchen where he began to scream even louder.
Valenzuela claimed at that point he picked up his son and the infant went limp.
After being transported to Primary Children's
Medical Center, doctors found Giovanni had multiple bone fractures, both acute and healed, retinal hemorrhaging and brain bleeding, along with a weak pulse as low as 57 beats per minute.
The infant died days later on March 17.
During the investigation into Giovanni's death, it was learned Valenzuela was alone with the infant on March 14, the night of the 911 call, after the boy's mother went out to pick up her brother from work.
The mother said Giovanni was fine when she left and had received a call from Valenzuela while she was out about the boy's health. She told Valenzuela to immediately call 911.
Valenzuela told police that after Giovanni stopped breathing, he "began chest compressions," allegedly performing one set of 30 compressions and blowing into his mouth. After calling the child's mother, he did another round of 30 chest compressions and called 911.
When told of his son's injuries, Valenzuela "seemed unsurprised or shocked by these
findings," police wrote, adding that he denied doing anything wrong. When told that the boy's injuries were not attributed to simply picking him up, "Armando went quiet and after some time passed, he said he just misses his son."
Valenzuela told police that a search history of his phone "would find searches about what could have caused the death of his son."
After being arrested, police wrote, "Armando asked me about second chances and asked that if he were found guilty, do I believe he was a good enough person to get a second chance."
