Oxnard : Parents Indicted in Death of 2-Year-Old

Two Oxnard farm workers blamed for the death of their 2-year-old son were indicted by the Ventura County grand jury on four counts of child endangerment, authorities said Tuesday.

Jose Ambriz, 58, and Virginia Cervantes, 29, were not charged with murder because of insufficient evidence to support a homicide case, Assistant Dist. Atty. Patrice E. Koenig said.

“We believe that child abuse and endangerment is the appropriate charge based on the evidence at this time,” Koenig said. “Both parents were equally culpable because they both knew of his condition regardless of who inflicted it and failed to either stop it or provide medical attention. That failure resulted in the child’s death.”

The couple’s son, Rene Ambriz, died in June from a severe head injury that a relative said the child suffered when he fell out of bed onto a concrete floor. But the boy also had a broken leg, hip bruises, a black eye and severe burns and scars on his chest, neck and head, police said.

His parents, who are being held in Ventura County Jail on $5,000 bail, pleaded not guilty to the four endangerment counts last month. As a result of the indictment Monday, they will be arraigned in Superior Court on Monday.