Milton Galarza-Rojas, baby killed by babysitters injecting cocaine, heroin moves to national headlines
A Philadelphia couple will stand trial in the death of a 9-month-old baby who died of a drug overdose after being injected with massive amounts of heroin and cocaine.
Doctors found “track marks” and excessive bruises left from needle punctures all over the child’s hands and feet, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The child’s aunt, Viameri Santana-Berrios and her boyfriend Oscar Sanchez-Rivera were looking after baby Milton Galarza-Rojas when he died.
Assistant District Attorney Bridget Kirn cited the testimony of Assistant Philadelphia Medical Examiner Edwin Lieberman, who said the drugs in Milton’s body had to have been ingested or injected within six hours of death.
“For thirty-nine and a half hours, this baby was in the care of these two people,” Kirn argued. “Take a look at the math and at the level of care and how they acted. The body has track marks. Track marks on a baby.”
The Daily Mail details the testimony of paramedic Dale Schroder, who told the court that he recognised ‘track marks’ normally found on drug addicts when he was trying to revive the baby. The baby was reported as unresponsive and when he first arrived,
He said he had been called to the home last July after the baby was reported as being unresponsive. he saw Sanchez-Rivera standing over the body of a baby who was naked and lying on a towel on the bed.
The Mail adds:
The child was cool to the touch, pale, and unresponsive, and Schroeder’s said his efforts failed to revive the child.
Schroeder said he and his partner took the child to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children, where he was pronounced dead.At the hospital, the paramedic added, Milton’s internal body temperature was already too low to register on a rectal thermometer.
Medical examiner Lieberman Edwin said an autopsy showed eight needle marks on the feet and hands as well as heroin and cocaine still undigested in the child’s stomach.
Lieberman said he had never seen this level of drugs before in a child.
Both defendants gave statements to detectives that claimed the baby, who had a history of breathing problems, began snoring, stopped breathing, and turned blue.
The pair were looking after the boy for Iris Rojas.