Police Release Woman Held After O.C. Toddler’s Death

Monica Bernabe, arrested in the aftermath of the death of a toddler treated at her Tustin gift store, walked out of Orange County jail late Thursday night maintaining her innocence and vowing to clear her name.

“They’ve done an injustice to me,” Bernabe said as she walked out with a woman who came to pick her up. “I didn’t do anything wrong. They came and arrested me at work like I was a criminal.”

Tustin police said Bernabe, 23, was a manager at Los Hermanos Gift Shop, where police say 18-month-old Selene Segura Rios received a penicillin injection in a back room late Monday. The Anaheim baby died a few hours later.

Investigators seized hundreds of syringes and pharmaceuticals--all manufactured in Mexico and allegedly imported illegally--from the back room, which police say served as a medical clinic.

Bernabe was arrested in connection with possessing and dispensing medicine without a license, and she was held on $150,000 bail. But police released her shortly before midnight Thursday after announcing hours earlier that there was not enough evidence to bring criminal charges.

She declined to talk about the baby’s death or the prescription drugs found in the store. Wearing a warm-up athletic suit, her long hair down to the middle of her back, Bernabe said Tustin police did not advise her of her rights.

“The Hispanic officer who questioned me never told me that I had the right not to talk to him,” Bernabe said in Spanish. “I agreed to talk to him because I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. After we finished talking, he put me under arrest. He also told me that my photo was not going to be given to the press, but it’s been shown everywhere.”

The story about the child’s death and Bernabe’s arrest has been widely reported and the woman’s photograph distributed through numerous media outlets. Her arrest has been a humiliating experience, she said.

“I feel victimized. My family in Mexico, Minnesota and Las Vegas have read about my arrest and seen my photograph,” Bernabe said. “I was portrayed as a criminal, but the fact that I was set free proves I did nothing wrong. Why else would they release me from jail?”

Bernabe said she planned to meet with an attorney Friday to discuss her arrest and talk “about suing everyone who said false things about me.”

Tustin Police Lt. Michael Shanahan said detectives do not know who injected the baby or if the penicillin contributed to her death. The cause of death will not be determined until toxicology tests are completed, he said.

Meantime, Shanahan said, police are continuing to investigate and plan to question Carlos Eduardo King, listed in government records as the owner of the business, and his sister, Laura Escalante. King has said he turned the business over to his sister a year ago. Shanahan also said police will continue to look into Bernabe’s role.

Times staff writer Robert Ourlian contributed to this report.