Parents Plead Not Guilty in Death of Baby Daughter
A woman accused of killing her 3-month-old daughter, who was afflicted with Down’s syndrome, pleaded not guilty Thursday, as did the infant’s father, who has been charged with felony child endangerment and as an accessory to the May 19 slaying.
Rocio Huerta Cazares, 23, and her common-law husband, Oscar Aguilar Lezama, also 23, entered their pleas during an arraignment in Orange County Municipal Court.
The couple were arrested two days after telling police that their daughter, Jeny, had been kidnaped by two masked men. They said the kidnapers hit the infant on the head, threw her into the back of a four-door sedan and drove off.
Jeny’s body was later found behind a beauty salon in the 1000 block of North Tustin Street.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Lewis Rosenblum, who is prosecuting the case, said the evidence indicates that Cazares directed and carried out the slaying inside the couple’s apartment in Orange.
Lezama was charged with child endangerment because authorities believe that the infant was alive for a short time after suffering massive head injuries but that the father failed to seek medical attention for her.
Lezama then helped cover up the crime by corroborating the explanation that the child was kidnaped, Rosenblum said.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for July 19.
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