Man Faces Trial in Death of Baby Left in His Care

An Oxnard man must stand trial on allegations that he starved and beat a 14-month-old boy to death, a judge ruled Monday.

Patrick Santillano, 32, is accused of murder, child abuse causing death, aggravated mayhem and false imprisonment in the Oct. 22 death of Demitri Robledo, who died from a blow to the head while in the care of Santillano and his girlfriend, Teresa Rodriguez.

“I’m very happy,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Dee Corona said after hearing the judge’s ruling. “I’m looking forward to trying him.”

The order came at the conclusion of a preliminary hearing, which ended with testimony from Rodriguez, who was also the child’s godmother. Rodriguez was baby-sitting Demitri while the baby’s mother served time in jail on drug charges.

Witness Testifies to Abuse of Child

During the weeks that she cared for the boy, Rodriguez said she watched her boyfriend smack the baby, deny him food and gag and bind him if he cried while Santillano was trying to shoot up heroin.

Last month, Rodriguez pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and general mayhem for failing to stop the attacks.

She faces up to 12 years and four months in prison when she is sentenced Nov. 1.

Defense attorney Steven Powell argued that Rodriguez was the one responsible for the beating and was trying to shift the blame to escape a life sentence.

“Actually, I don’t even have to take the deal and I would still testify against him,” Rodriguez said from the stand. “He deserves to get whatever he gets for what he did to that baby. He deserves to go to jail for it.”

Rodriguez, who has two children with Santillano, testified she never struck Demitri but did not intervene, either.

She also replaced a sock that had been stuffed into the toddler’s mouth to muffle his crying when it fell out.

“That way, Pat wouldn’t know it came out and the baby wouldn’t get hit more,” Rodriguez said.

Couple Took Baby Into Their Home in August

Rodriguez began caring for the baby in August. Over several weeks, Santillano, who was allegedly selling drugs out of the couple’s Oxnard home, became increasingly violent toward the infant, Rodriguez said.

He called Demitri names, slapped him, used a rubber band to snap at his genitals, tied his hands and feet with socks, and began gagging him for so many hours that a large sore developed that ate away the flesh between his upper lip and nose, prosecutors said.

Santillano and Rodriguez also hid the baby from his mother after she was released from custody, because they did not want her to see his condition, prosecutors said. Rodriguez testified that she pretended to be out of town with the child.

Rodriguez became alarmed when she could not arouse the baby after a nap during the afternoon of Oct. 22.

Santillano told her to take Demitri out for fresh air, and she drove to a hamburger stand to buy the baby some fries, his favorite food. But when he wouldn’t wake up to eat, she drove the child to St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard.

He was pronounced dead an hour later.

Defendant Left Country After Child’s Death

Rodriguez, who was pregnant at the time, went into labor that day and delivered a baby boy.

She was later arrested in connection with Demitri’s death.

Santillano left for Mexico to stay with his father after learning of the baby’s death, but was arrested in February after returning to Oxnard.

Rodriguez said she never took Demitri to get medical help because she was afraid authorities would find out she was using heroin herself and she would lose custody of her own children.

In his argument to the court, Powell tried to convince the judge that testimony from Rodriguez and other witnesses was unreliable. Several witnesses, including the Demitri’s parents, who are both in jail on unrelated charges, took the stand in the case against Santillano over the weeklong hearing.

“We have heard from liars, cheats, thieves, drug addicts, prostitutes and people out for one thing,” Powell said, “and that’s to protect themselves. . . . The [prosecutors] have piled liar upon liar, garbage upon garbage.”

The judge, however, disagreed and ordered Santillano back to court to enter a plea on all charges July 3.

If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.