Sheriff's detectives detail how the 'Baby Angelita' case came together: tire evidence, text messages, and warrants
In an Oct. 8 news conference, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office laid out the investigation into the infant found dead Aug. 1 in Moss Landing, including vehicle evidence, a text the 14-year-old sent her father, and the warrants that preceded his arrest in Mexico.
Monterey County Sheriff's Office detectives on Thursday laid out, step by step, how investigators built the case around the death of the newborn authorities named "Baby Angelita," found dead Aug. 1 on the 100 block of Struve Road in Moss Landing.
Detectives determined the infant had been run over by a vehicle. A large blood stain near the body suggested the newborn had been moved beneath a vehicle before being struck, and investigators found blood on the suspect vehicle's front right wheel well, Detective Richard Geng said at the Oct. 8 news conference, according to the Salinas Californian. "It should be noted that tire impressions at the scene indicated that the front right wheel ran over Baby Angelita," Geng said.
"I can say this is one of the more difficult ones," Geng said. "By difficult, I'm not referring to the evidentiary aspect of it. I'm referring to the human side of it. Anyone who has touched this case has been affected by it in some way. Regardless of how we feel about the case, we as peace officers have the obligation to follow the evidence."
The briefing revealed how the case pivoted. On Aug. 3, detectives served a search warrant at the family's Salinas home and found the 14-year-old at the center of the case hiding beneath a pile of clothes in a closet. Authorities interviewed the teen and her parents and collected DNA samples from all three. The girl told investigators she had been involved in a sexual relationship with an "unidentified juvenile male" and had given birth without medical attention, Geng said; detectives then opened a separate sexual assault investigation and had the girl transported to a hospital.
At that point, Geng said, there was no indication that the girl's father, 38-year-old Sergio Galvez Perez, was the baby's father or had abused her. A day after she was admitted to the hospital, Perez removed his daughter from the facility, triggering an alert to Child Protective Services. Investigators made several attempts to locate her.
Between Aug. 5 and Aug. 10, investigators obtained search warrants for cellphone data and medical records and processed the suspect vehicle, which Flock camera footage had helped investigators identify, according to the briefing account. Cellphone records showed that around noon on Aug. 1, the girl texted her father. Geng translated portions of the Spanish-language messages during the briefing: "Dad! A while ago, I couldn't hold it anymore and the baby came out and I hid it somewhere because my mom was going to see me with it and she was going to kill me." The messages later referenced police investigating the newborn's death, Geng said.
Detectives also reviewed the teen's internet search history and found searches related to concealing or terminating a pregnancy, many conducted months before she gave birth, Geng said. One search, timestamped at 12:07 p.m. Aug. 1, read: "what happens if the cops find a newborn baby from a minor." Another search about turning off an iPhone's location services was conducted shortly afterward.
On Aug. 11, a Monterey County judge issued a Ramey warrant for the 14-year-old, an arrest warrant issued before a prosecutor files formal charges. Eight days later, DNA results revealed that Perez and the teen were Baby Angelita's biological parents. A Ramey warrant was then issued for Perez, who was later charged with sexual assault by the Monterey County District Attorney's Office. The sheriff's office had obtained an arrest warrant for the teen on suspicion of murder, a step the Monterey County Weekly reported drew public blowback.
In September, investigators received tips that Perez and his daughter had left the area, and an Amber Alert was issued Sept. 6. A media tip Sept. 14 led detectives to the pair's location in Mexico, where the FBI and Mexican authorities coordinated: Perez was arrested on local drug charges, and Mexican child welfare authorities took custody of the 14-year-old. The sheriff's office says extradition efforts are underway to bring Perez back to Monterey County on the sexual assault charges.
No homicide charges have been filed against the 14-year-old, and authorities said Thursday they do not anticipate filing homicide charges against either of her parents. "The evidence, as we understand at this point in time, indicates that neither the mother or father of the 14-year-old had any knowledge of the homicide occuring [sic] when it occurred ... the 14-year-old is still in Mexico," Geng said. "So far, no one is facing homicide charges because all we have is a Ramey warrant, and the district attorney's office has not made a filing decision regarding the 14-year-old."
The girl's mother, Ofelia Garcia Ortega, faces charges filed by the district attorney's office: two felony counts of possessing or displaying a forged identification card, one misdemeanor count of permitting a child to suffer or be endangered, and one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Prosecutors allege she put her daughter to work in agricultural fields at age 13 using fraudulent documents, allowed her to drive without a license and kept her out of school for several months, the Californian reported.
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