Fresno man ordered to trial in death of toddler

Benjamin Gomez was baby-sitting 18-month-old girl whose skull was fractured.

Published online on Friday, Jun. 12, 2009

A Fresno man will stand trial on murder and child-abuse charges in connection with the death of an 18-month-old girl in December, a judge ruled Friday.

Fresno County Superior Court Judge James Oppliger made his ruling after a police detective testified that Benjamin Gomez, 23, was baby-sitting Madison Garcia when she suffered a skull fracture.

An autopsy report also said Madison suffered bruises to her back, head and arm and that she died of blunt-force trauma, prosecutor Burton Francis said.

"It is circumstantial evidence," Oppliger said. "But a reasonable interpretation of the evidence is sufficient to establish probable cause" to order Gomez to stand trial on the charges, he said.

The ruling ended a preliminary hearing in which Fresno police detective Chris Serrano testified that Gomez told him Madison hurt her head after she fell out of her crib -- a fall of less than 4 feet.

Serrano said a doctor told him Madison's injuries were inconsistent with a fall from a crib. The doctor also noted that Madison had retinal hemorrhaging, Serrano testified.

Police found Madison on the floor of her bedroom inside her mother's southeast Fresno apartment about 11 a.m. Dec. 5. At the time, Gomez was the mother's live-in boyfriend, police said.

Serrano said the mother told him she put Madison in her bed with Gomez before she left for work at 8 a.m. Three hours later, Gomez made a frantic call to the mother, telling her that her child was unresponsive, Serrano said.

According to Serrano, Gomez told him that he woke up to find Madison in his bed. Because the baby was sleeping, he said, he put her in her crib. He then went to the living room to watch television.

Twenty minutes later, Gomez said, he heard a loud thump, Serrano testified. Gomez said he picked up the child, but she was not moving and her eyes were half-closed, Serrano testified. Gomez also said the baby appeared to have trouble breathing, the detective said.

After he called Madison's mother to tell her to come home, Gomez said, he went into a bathroom and splashed cold water on the baby, Serrano testified. When Madison remained unresponsive, Gomez called 911 and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Serrano testified.

Attorney J.M. Irigoyen, who is defending Gomez, told Oppliger that the death was an accident. He told the judge that Gomez didn't have a criminal record of violence.

But Serrano testified that he interviewed a 14-year-old relative of Madison. The relative said Madison was scared of Gomez and would cry every time he would get near her.

In one incident, the relative said, she saw Gomez lift Madison by one arm and force her into her crib, Serrano testified.