Police Free Baby-Sitters in Van Nuys Girl’s Death : Child Care: An autopsy shows that bruises on infant’s body may have been caused by efforts to save her.

An elderly Van Nuys couple arrested on suspicion of murder were released from jail Thursday after an autopsy found that bruises on the body of an infant who died in their care may have come from efforts to save her, Los Angeles police said.

Jose Delgado, 75, and his wife, Theresa, 61, were in police custody nearly 24 hours before they were released from Van Nuys jail about 6:30 p.m. They were held without bail after 10-week-old Evelyn Figueroa was pronounced dead at 5:10 p.m. Wednesday at Panorama Community Hospital, where she was taken by paramedics.

Police said paramedics were called when the baby’s mother, Susana Espina, 24, went to the Delgados’ apartment in the 15800 block of Saticoy Street and found the infant unconscious. Detectives were called to the hospital after paramedics and doctors reported bruises on the infant’s face and head as possible signs of child abuse.

Theresa Delgado, who routinely baby-sits three other children in the apartment complex, and her husband denied injuring the child, Detective Jim Vojtecky said.

The couple said they had noticed the child had trouble breathing about 3:30 p.m., and Jose Delgado attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, police said. When the baby did not recover, the Delgados called Espina at work and she arrived about 4:30 p.m., police said.

“When the mother arrived she was handed the limp body of her daughter,” Lt. Warren Knowles said. Espina ran to her own apartment in the complex and her roommate called paramedics.

A preliminary autopsy Thursday afternoon determined that bruises on the top of the infant’s head, an eye area and her nose were not fatal, Vojtecky said.

“The bottom line is the trauma to the head would not have caused death,” he said. “It appears it might be a crib death.”

The autopsy is expected to continue today. Vojtecky noted that the bruises were possibly the result of the efforts of Jose Delgado, paramedics and doctors to revive the child. He said the bruise on the infant’s nose may have been caused during mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and the other head injuries may have been caused by insulin shots administered by paramedics.

The Delgados have lived at the apartment for at least 15 years, neighbors said, and cared for children whose mothers worked away from home for $40 a week per child.

Neighbor Leticia Rios, 20, said Espina lived with her for a month before financial problems forced Espina to move to the downstairs apartment Saturday. During that period, Rios said, she occasionally saw Espina’s 3-year-old son, Roberto, mistreat and hit his infant sister.

“He was very rebellious, and he used to hit her,” Rios said. Rios’ own 2-year-old, Leslie, was cared for by the Delgados for three months with no problems, she said.

“I never had a worry with her when she was with Theresa,” Rios said. “I’m going to bring my baby back to her.”

Police said detectives had no choice but to arrest the Delgados Wednesday night because of conflicting statements from them and others and because they are illegal aliens from Mexico.

Vojtecky said the Delgados gave investigators differing versions of what happened, and paramedics were unsure whether bruises on the infant were already visible when they began to treat her.

“The baby-sitter and her husband could not account for how injuries occurred to a child in their care,” he said. “We based our arrest solely on the physical trauma.”

“We realize they are elderly, but we didn’t want to take the chance they would flee,” Knowles said. “Certainly we had probable cause to believe they were responsible.”

Knowles said the completed investigation of the infant’s death will be turned over to the district attorney’s office for review and the possible filing of lesser charges against the Delgados, such as child neglect for not contacting paramedics immediately.

“There is a gray area. They probably should have called for some kind of emergency response,” Knowles said.