Tri-Cities baby died of brain trauma. Dad charged with homicide by abuse

A 5-week-old boy died of trauma to the brain after his father repeatedly dropped the baby against the railing of a pack n’ play crib, according to medical experts.

The initial assessment shared this week with Benton County prosecutors is the basis for two felony charges filed against Jose L. Rosas Olivo.

The 28-year-old Richland dad was charged Wednesday with homicide by abuse and second-degree murder.

His son — identified in court documents as J.R. — died Sept. 24.

The baby already was dead when his parents rushed him to Kadlec Regional Medical Center.

Rosas Olivo changed his story to police several times, admitting Oct. 8 before his arrest that he had grown frustrated with his son’s frequent crying, documents said.

He allegedly told detectives that he had been “too rough” with the baby when squeezing him and that he had been hurting his on because he “no longer cared.”

The charge of homicide by abuse states that Rosas Olivo caused the newborn’s death “under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to human life.” It carries a prison sentence equal to first-degree murder.

Deputy Prosecutor Brian Hultgrenn said the father “engaged in a pattern or practice of assault or torture” between Sept. 10 and 24.

The homicide charge includes aggravating circumstances allegations that J.R.’s death had a “destructive and foreseeable impact” on other people and that Rosas Olivo should have known his baby was vulnerable.

The allegations on the murder charge are victim vulnerability and that Rosas Olivo’s conduct “manifested deliberate cruelty” to the victim.

Fussy and colicky

J.R. was born two weeks premature on Aug. 17. He had jaundice but it cleared up, and a wellness check showed he was otherwise healthy just before his death, court documents said.

However, the baby’s parents, Rosas Olivo and Andrea Ramirez, both told detectives that J.R. had been fussy and colicky. The couple also have a daughter.

Rosas Olivo said he had tried to be a good father to J.R. for the first few weeks, but the baby was never “comfortable” and there was nothing that really worked in terms of getting him to stop crying, documents said.

He claimed the baby had fallen on a couple occasions, once from a sofa and another time from a bed. Then opened up to detectives about what happened over the following two weeks.

“He admitted (he) had been depressed, frustrated and stressed while trying to take care of J.R.,” documents said. “He had been unable to express those frustrations to Andrea.”

Rosas Olivo said he started squeezing his son’s head and body, then found himself intentionally inflicting pain — from pulling on the newborn’s hair and ears or spanking him during diaper changes to throwing the baby into his crib from above the father’s stomach and chest height, court documents said.

The father claimed that, at least twice a day, he would toss his son into the pack ‘n play in a manner that ensured the baby hit his head on the railing.

In the last 12 hours of the 5-week-old’s life, he reportedly was: thrown twice onto the railing of his crib, landing on his stomach before falling backwards and being caught by his head; squeezed multiple times; and hit on the head by a cellphone when his dad fell asleep while watching videos and dropped the phone.

Rosas Olivo was responsible for his son’s care that night, particularly while Ramirez slept from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. He said he squeezed the boy so hard at one point that the baby stopped moving for two to three seconds before gasping for air, court documents said.

Rosas Olivo put the baby to sleep about 1 a.m. and went to his own bed. He told police he woke up several hours later worried that he had hurt his son, and discovered that J.R. was already dead.

After being checked by doctors and nurses at the hospital, the baby was pronounced dead at 5:55 a.m.

Kadlec records indicated one possible rib fracture was observed on an X-ray, but no other trauma was documented, court records show.

An autopsy done Sept. 30 found injuries including a skull fracture. bleeding under the entire scalp, a damaged liver and multiple broken ribs, several in two places, documents said.

Rosas Olivo is locked up in the Benton County jail on $500,000 bail.