Couple Pleads Not Guilty in Death of Their Foster Child
A Glendale couple pleaded not guilty Friday to charges they murdered a 19-month-old twin boy placed in their care. The case triggered another inquiry into the adequacy of county foster-care practices.
Fernando E. Paz, 34, and his wife, Maria Del Carmen Elizabeth Paz, 29, entered not guilty pleas during their arraignment before Superior Court Judge Jan A. Pluim.
Julio Gonzalez died Dec. 29 of multiple injuries, including head trauma.
Fernando Paz, an emergency room clerk who worked 16 hours a day on two jobs, told authorities the toddler was eating a dinner of soup and rice when he began to choke Dec. 27, prompting Paz to apply the Heimlich maneuver and then cardiopulmonary resuscitation in an unsuccessful effort to revive him. The boy died two days later.
The couple are in custody with bail set at $585,000 bail for each.
The prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Cheri Lewis, has since filed child-abuse charges against the Pazes. She cited a coroner’s report that described three healing fractures in the child’s arms, the oldest dating from about two months before his death.
The boy’s twin brother and the Pazes’ two biological children have since been placed in foster care.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
