Glendale Man Arrested Over Baby’s Death

A 28-year-old Glendale man was arrested on suspicion of killing his 5-month-old daughter after an autopsy revealed that the baby had died of head injuries, police said Friday.

Felipe Carrillo, a Mexican national employed as a dishwasher, is expected to be arraigned Monday in Glendale Municipal Court on one count of murder. He is being held without bail in Glendale City Jail, Sgt. Pete Michael said.

Carrillo said he found his daughter, Marina Oliva Alvarez, dead in her crib early Wednesday morning but waited an hour to summon authorities to the East Lomita Avenue apartment because he was trying to comfort his family, according to the police report.

The baby’s last name of Alvarez is a family name on her father’s side, said Glendale Police Agent Christopher Loop.

Paramedics called to Carrillo’s home reported that the baby died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, a condition in which an apparently healthy infant dies of unknown causes.

However, an autopsy Thursday revealed numerous bruises under the skin of the child’s head. A Los Angeles County coroner’s medical examiner determined that trauma caused by blunt force over a period of time killed the infant, the police report stated.

Carrillo told police investigators who questioned him Thursday that he had hit his daughter with his hands on several occasions, Michael said.

Police also questioned Victoria Gomez, 21, the baby’s mother and Carrillo’s live-in girlfriend, according to the police report. Gomez is not a suspect, Loop said.

Two other children who were living with the couple, Carrillo’s 1-year-old son and Gomez’s 4-year-old daughter, were examined Thursday at a local hospital. Doctors found no evidence of abuse, police said.

Loop said the county Department of Children’s Services placed the two children in a temporary home.