Jurors Hear of Boy’s Many Injuries

A malnourished 14-month-old Oxnard boy died two years ago as a result of being battered, and suffered wounds consistent with being tied up, gagged and possibly beaten, a county pathologist testified Friday.

Ventura County Assistant Medical Examiner Janice Frank told jurors that slain toddler Demitri Robledo suffered a dislocated elbow three weeks before his death. The child had no fat on his bony frame and no food in his stomach or intestines. He weighed only 14 pounds.

In addition to scars and healing bruises, the toddler had ulcerated wounds to his mouth, ears and nose consistent with being gagged and tied up, Frank testified.

An autopsy revealed he suffered at least one blow to the head approximately three days before his death on Oct. 22, 2000.

“This youngster had evidence of malnutrition, he had evidence of binding, gagging and he also had a head injury,” Frank said.

She testified that the head injury, which could have been caused by a blow or a fall, was not inevitably fatal. But in combination with neglect and other injuries inflicted over a period of time, she said, it likely resulted in the child’s death.

“I think it was probably the last straw, so to speak,” she said. Frank officially ruled the cause of death to be battered child syndrome.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Cheryl Temple called the assistant medical examiner as her final witness Friday, and showed jurors 35 graphic autopsy photos before resting the prosecution case against Patrick Santillano.

The 34-year-old former drug dealer was not present in court during Frank’s testimony, indicating earlier that he feared the photographs would make him sick.

Santillano is charged with murder, torture, child abuse causing death and aggravated mayhem in connection with Demitri’s death.

For three months in the late summer and fall of 2000, the boy was left in the care of Santillano and his former live-in girlfriend, Teresa Rodriguez, while the child’s mother served time on drug charges.

Prosecutors allege that Santillano gagged, bound and slapped the boy, and prevented Rodriguez from feeding him or providing proper medical care.

Santillano’s lawyer, Steve Powell, who will present evidence for the defense next week, has suggested that Rodriguez abused the baby and blamed his client to shield herself from a murder charge.

Rodriguez, an admitted heroin addict, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in June 2001 after implicating Santillano, the father of her two children.

On Friday, the assistant medical examiner testified for about three hours.

Gesturing to photos of the baby, she pointed out scars, ulcerated wounds, bruises and a healed elbow fracture that she testified are evidence Demitri was battered days, even weeks, before he died.

In addition to the external injuries, Frank said, toxicology tests detected a small amount of morphine in the toddler’s urine, which may have been caused by exposure to heroin.