Docs Spent 10 Hours Trying to Save Newborn. Now, 2 Arrests

Baby Diego's mother, her boyfriend accused of strangulation that led to infant's death
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 22, 2019 8:42 AM CDT
Docs Spent 10 Hours Trying to Save a Newborn. Now, 2 Arrests
David Villa, left, and Andrea Camacho.   (Oxnard Police Department, via Los Angeles Times)

She gave birth on Thursday, but by Friday evening, Andrea Torralba Camacho's newborn son was dead. Now, Camacho, 20, and her 21-year-old boyfriend, David Luna Villa, have been arrested after medical staff at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, Calif., reported the baby suffered a "suspicious injury," police say. The Los Angeles Times reports that, per authorities, the infant named Diego was found unresponsive and in critical condition early Friday in Camacho's hospital room, and the Oxnard Police Department was called. The Ventura County Star notes detectives from the department's family protection unit also arrived at the scene, and the couple admitted they'd strangled the baby until he was unconscious, police say. Camacho said Villa wasn't Diego's father and that she didn't want the baby, Oxnard Police Sgt. Brandon Ordelheide tells the Times.

"They did everything they could to try and revive that kid," Ordelheide says, adding medical staff tried in vain for 10 hours to save Diego. "While we deal with tragedies every day, the staff at St. John's ... are devastated by the alleged incident," the hospital said in a statement to CBS Los Angeles. "In the midst of this investigation, it is timely to remind our community of California's Safe Surrender Law," in which newborns can be left at designated sites like hospitals, police stations, and fire stations within 72 hours of birth, "no questions asked." Camacho and Villa, who were charged with suspicion of assault on a child by means of force resulting in the child's death, are set to appear in court Tuesday. Ventura County Sheriff's Office records show bail has been set at $5 million each. (More child murder stories.)

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