7-month-old baby died Wednesday, according to the Orange Police Dept.Sonia Hermosillo's charge of attempted murder will be amended to a charge of murder, according to police.

Baby hospitalized by 4-story fall, mom arrested
Tuesday, August 23, 2011

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By Subha Ravindhran and Eileen Frere
ORANGE, Calif. (KABC) -- A 7-month-old baby suffered critical injuries after allegedly being thrown off the fourth level of a parking structure by his own mother at Children's Hospital of Orange County.

The child landed on concrete, police said. He was hospitalized in critical condition at UC Irvine Medical Center.

UPDATE, Aug. 24, 1:40 p.m.: The 7-month-old baby died Wednesday, according to the Orange Police Dept.

La Habra resident Sonia Hermosillo, 31, was arrested at about 10 p.m. Monday.

Police said she was taken into custody after officers spotted her driving by the scene hours after the crime was committed.

"Our investigators are sure that we have the right suspect in this case. We do think it was done on purpose. We don't think it was an accident," said Orange Police Sgt. Dan Adams.

It was unclear what she was doing in the area at the time. Police said she was very cooperative.

"I'm describing it as stoic, not much emotion. Actually no emotion at all," said Adams.

Hermosillo's tan 2000 Chevy Blazer was caught on surveillance video leaving the parking structure immediately after the incident around 6:20 p.m., according to police.

Investigators don't think the crime was caught on tape, but at least one witness saw the baby falling.

"The one witness that was walking by did say that he was falling. So whether or not he was dropped or thrown is a question that I don't have an answer to," said Orange Police Sgt. Dan Adams.

Hermosillo's husband had reported her and their child missing Monday night, police said. When she was eventually stopped outside of the hospital, officers found an empty car seat in her vehicle.

Officials are searching through records to see if the 7-month-old was a patient at Children's Hospital.

"There is a driveway right there where the child landed. As far as how he actually survived the fall to remain in critical condition right now, I really don't know," said Adams. "This is a defenseless child who is now clinging to life in a local hospital."

Hermosillo was arrested on one count of attempted murder and was held at Orange County Bail without bail. She is scheduled to make her first court appearance Wednesday.

UPDATE, Aug. 24, 1:40 p.m.: The 7-month-old baby died Wednesday, according to the Orange Police Dept. Hermosillo's charge of attempted murder will be amended to a charge of murder, according to police.

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Mom to be arraigned on murder charge in infant's 4-story fall

Daily News Wire Services
Posted: 08/25/2011 07:37:02 AM PDT
Updated: 08/25/2011 09:17:22 AM PDT
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This image provided by the Orange Police Department shows Sonia Hermosillo who was arrested Monday Aug. 22, 2011 on charges after she allegedly tossed her 7-month-old son from the upper level of a parking structure. The baby is in critical condition at University of California, Irvine Medical Center. (AP Photo/Orange Police Department)

SANTA ANA - A woman who allegedly threw her 7-month-old baby from the fourth level of a parking structure at Children's Hospital of Orange County was scheduled to be arraigned today on a murder charge.
Sonia Hermosillo, 31, of La Habra, allegedly took a protective helmet off the boy -- he was born with flat-head and twisted-neck syndrome -- and intentionally dropped him to the pavement some 40 feet below Monday evening. The boy was hospitalized at UC Irvine Medical Center in Orange, where he was taken off life support Wednesday morning.

Hermosillo is being held in isolation and under suicide watch in a jail medical ward and undergoing a psychiatric evaluation. She made a brief court appearance at the Central Jail in Santa Ana on Wednesday

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This undated cell phone photo provided by the family shows seven-month-old infant Noe Medina Junior. Authorities say the boy's 31-year-old mother tossed him off a hospital parking garage and returned to validate her parking before driving away. (AP Photo/Family Photo via The Orange County Register)
but did not enter a plea, and her arraignment was reset for today.

Her bail was set at $1 million but Hermosillo, who is believed to be an undocumented immigrant, is also subject to an immigration hold.

In addition to murder, Hermosillo is charged with assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted.

Hermosillo's husband, Noe Medina, told reporters at UC Irvine Medical Center Wednesday that his wife suffered from postpartum depression and had rejected the baby because of his medical condition.

"She didn't know what she was doing," he said in Spanish through an interpreter. "Please don't judge her."

Hermosillo could use postpartum depression as a defense. But Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons said Wednesday that her decision to remove the boy's helmet indicated forethought.

A fund was established to help pay for the boy's burial. The Wells Fargo account number is 1584897597.

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Horrible. I had trouble even watching this on the news when the story broke. There are no winners here. The husband said that she had been hospitalized not long ago for depression and she wasn't supposed to be alone with the kids. I heard this on our local news, hopefully it states it above (I didn't read it).

Depression...wonder if that will be postpartum depression? She certainly was dangerous. This case is so sad, look at the adorable chubby cheeks on this baby.

AMY TAXIN 08/29/11 05:59 PM ET AP

SANTA ANA, Calif. — A lawyer for a woman charged with murdering her 7-month-old son by pushing him off a four-story parking structure said Monday his client appeared only marginally coherent and did not fully understand the charges against her.

Sonia Hermosillo, 31, arrived in Orange County Superior Court in a wheelchair and blue jail jumpsuit, with her hands cuffed to the chair and her feet shackled.

She agreed to postpone her arraignment until Sept. 30 so she could be evaluated by a doctor, said Chuck Hasse, her lawyer.

"She wasn't really able to comprehend the nature of the charges," Hasse told reporters after the hearing. "She knows that she's being accused of killing her child. She nodded in agreement to that, that she marginally comprehended that. It's very speculative as to what she understands and what she doesn't understand."

Her husband, Noe Medina, has said his wife suffered postpartum depression and didn't know what she was doing. He urged the public not to judge her.

Hermosillo was arrested a week ago after her 7-month-old son Noe Medina Jr. was spotted falling from the parking structure at Children's Hospital of Orange County. She was arrested hours later as she drove nearby.

The baby died Aug. 24 and Hermosillo was charged with murder and assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death. If convicted, she could face a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

Prosecutors contend Hermosillo was aware of her actions, asserting that before she dropped her son she removed a special helmet that he wore for a medical condition.

Scott Simmons, senior deputy district attorney, said he believed Hermosillo understood what happened in court, and that she was brought out in a wheelchair because it was easier for jail officials to transport her.

"When the judge communicated with her, she appeared to understand what he was saying," Simmons said after the hearing. "I think she understands what's going on."

Hermosillo has been in a medical ward since she was arrested. She is on suicide watch in a cell by herself and has been wearing a protective gown to prevent her from harming herself, authorities said.

She is being held on $1 million bail and also has an immigration hold.

Hermosillo appeared Monday in a courtroom inside the jail in Santa Ana. She was not fully visible to the public on television screens in a nearby viewing room.

During the brief hearing, Hasse told the judge his client "doesn't quite understand why she can't go home."

Afterward, he told reporters that he was able to meet with Hermosillo for the first time five minutes before the hearing. He said his first step would be to get his client seen by a doctor and added that her mental state would be central to his case.

"It's obviously going to be a psychiatric defense, obviously. It's not a whodunit. It's not a, you know, whether it happened ..." Hasse said. "It's really going to be what was going on in her mind at the time."

Medina told the Orange County Register newspaper that his wife was hospitalized for postpartum depression in June after she said she didn't want the boy.

The baby had been diagnosed with congenital muscular torticollis – a twisting of the neck to one side – and wore a helmet to help correct his plagiocephaly, also known as flat-head syndrome, the newspaper reported.

Simmons said he understands that the public wants to make sense of an unthinkable act. He believes Hermosillo's actions show she murdered her child, noting she drove all the way to the hospital – a familiar place – where she took the baby for physical therapy twice a week, even though he didn't have an appointment that day. He also said she validated her parking after pushing the baby off the structure.

"Nobody really wants to think of her as a killer. It's easier for people to think, well, she's got these postpartum blues," Simmons told reporters after the hearing. "I think the evidence is clear. It's going to show that she didn't want to take care of this baby. She wanted to kill this baby."

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A private funeral Mass was held at 11 a.m. to remember Noe Medina Jr. at Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church in La Habra.

By DENISSE SALAZAR / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LA HABRA – A 7-month-old boy whose mother is accused of intentionally dropping him from a four-story parking structure at Children’s Hospital of Orange County was laid to rest Wednesday.
A private funeral Mass started after 11 a.m. to remember Noe Medina Jr. at Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church in La Habra.

Noe Medina, father of Noe Medina Jr., whose mother is accused of intentionally dropping the 7-month-old from the fourth story of a parking structure at Children's Hospital of Orange County, left, carries the casket of his son with Medina Sr.'s uncle Martin Mena following a private ceremony for the child at Our Lady of Guadalupe Roman Catholic Church in La Habra Wednesday.

After the nearly one-hour Mass, the boy’s tearful father placed his hand on the tiny blue casket adorned with a crucifix as the Rev. Ed Becker blessed him on the front steps of the church.
Grieving family and friends watched as the casket was carried to a waiting hearse by the boy’s father, also named Noe Medina, and the father’s uncle, Martin Mena.

After placing the casket in the hearse, he held his daughters, ages 7 and 10, by the hand and walked back to the front of the church where he was consoled by family and friends. Moments later, his daughters wrapped their arms around his legs.

“My daughters are devastated,” Medina said last week after telling his daughters their little brother passed away. “I told them he was a little angel and was with God. They were in disbelief and wanted to see him.”

Medina held a portrait of his son dressed in a bear costume as he was driven to Memory Garden Memorial Park and Mortuary in Brea, where his son was buried.

The baby’s mother, Sonia Hermosillo, was arrested Aug. 22, just hours after her son was spotted falling from the parking structure at CHOC.

Her son died two days later at UCI Medical Center in Orange and Hermosillo was charged with murder and assault on a child with force likely to produce great bodily injury resulting in death. If convicted, she faces of maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.

Hermosillo appeared Monday in a courtroom inside the Orange County Jail in Santa Ana wearing a blue jail jumpsuit. She was in a wheelchair with her hands cuffed to the chair and her feet shackled.

Her attorney, Orange County Deputy Public Defender Charles Hasse, described his client as being marginally coherent and said she didn’t understand why she couldn’t go home.

She agreed to continue her arraignment to Sept. 30. Hasse said.

The boy’s father has said his wife suffered from postpartum depression and was hospitalized for postpartum depression in June after she said she didn’t want their son because she didn’t see him as “normal.”

The baby had been diagnosed with congenital muscular torticollis – a twisting of the neck to one side – and wore a helmet to help correct his plagiocephaly, also known as flat-head syndrome.
Deputy District Attorney Scott Simmons said the anticipated defense for Hermosillo will be postpartum depression. But, he said, there is evidence that she deliberated before pushing the baby over the edge to the pavement below.

“Nobody really wants to think of her as a killer. It’s easier for people to think, well, she’s got postpartum blues,” Simmons said after the hearing on Monday. “I think the evidence is clear. It’s going to show that she didn’t want to take care of this baby. She wanted to kill this baby.”
Hermosillo is accused of driving from her La Habra home to CHOC, where she took her son for physical therapy twice a week, and driving to the top floor of the parking structure. According to the accusations, she then removed the helmet from the boy before intentionally dropping him, and had the wherewithal to validate her parking permit before fleeing the scene.

Hermosillo returned to the hospital several hours later and was arrested. Police said she was cooperative during questioning but showed no emotion.

Hasse said Hermosillo has been “very incoherent” since her arrest and was able to meet with her for the first time five minutes before the hearing.

“The first thing we need to do is get a doctor to see her, evaluate her and see what her psychiatric condition is like,” Hasse said, adding that her mental state would play a role in the case.
“It’s obviously going to be a psychiatric defense. It’s not a whodunit and it’s not a, you know, whether it happened,” Hasse said. “It’s really going to be what was going on in her head at the time.”

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01/02/12

A woman accused of throwing her baby from the fourth floor of a hospital parking structure pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in court Wednesday.

On August 22, 2011, Sonia Hermosillo is accused of driving her 7-month old son, Noe, to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) and parking her car on the fourth floor of a parking structure.

The baby suffered medical conditions that required him to be treated at CHOC regularly, but he did not have a scheduled appointment that day.

The baby was born with congenital muscular torticollis, which causes the neck to twist to one side.

He wore a helmet to correct his plagiocephaly, also known as flat-head syndrome.

Prosecutors say Hermosillo removed the boy’s helmet and pushed him from the parking structure.

He died a week later after being taken off life support.

Hermosillo is then accused of then walking inside the hospital, validating her parking and driving away.

A witness who saw the baby fall called 911.

Police reviewed surveillance video and spotted a vehicle leaving the structure with a lone female driver.

They traced the license plate to a residence in La Habra.

Investigators say during that time, they received a call from a man reporting his wife, Sonia, and their 7-month-old son missing.

Officers later spotted the woman’s vehicle near CHOC Hospital on Main Street.

“There was a child seat in the vehicle, but no baby,” police said in a press release.

Hermosillo’s husband, Noe Medina, told police his wife had been hospitalized recently for depression and was not allowed to be alone with the baby.

He asked the public for compassion for his wife, who he says is mentally ill.

“Please do not hold any grudge against his wife. She didn’t do it on purpose. She didn’t know what she was doing. Please understand her mental condition,” Medina said through an interpreter.

“Please understand the pain he’s suffering. He just lost a child. He doesn’t want to lose his wife now,” the interpreter added.

Medina says Hermosillo grabbed the baby while he was watching the couple’s two other children at their home in La Habra.

He was not immediately aware of what had happened, but called police to report them missing.

Medina says Hermosillo suffered from postpartum depression and started going to therapy.

He also says she could not handle the baby’s medical issues.

If convicted, Hermosillo faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

She is due back in court Feb. 22 for a trial setting conference.

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03/13/12

A judge ruled Monday that a mother charged with killing her 7-month-old son by tossing him from the fourth floor of a hospital parking structure is mentally competent to stand trial.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Kazuharu Makino made the ruling after reading psychologists' reports on Sonia Hermosillo, 31, who is charged with murder and assault on a child in the August death of her son Noe Medina Jr.

Hermosillo's arraignment is scheduled for April 6. She faces a maximum of 25 years to life in prison and is being held on $1 million bail.

Three psychologists examined Hermosillo and the results were split, with one saying she was competent to stand trial, another saying she wasn't, and a third saying the results were inconclusive, the Orange County Register reported.

Prosecutors allege that on Aug. 22, Hermosillo tossed the child from the fourth level of the parking garage at Children's Hospital of Orange County, then validated her parking ticket and drove away. She returned hours later and was arrested.

Her husband, Noe Medina, said last year that his wife suffered from severe post-partum depression and was distraught because their son had several medical conditions. He urged the public not to judge her.

Prosecutors said Hermosillo removed a special helmet the child wore to reshape his head before tossing him over the railing.

Scott Simmons, the prosecutor handling the case, previously told the Los Angeles Times that the removal of the helmet was proof that Hermosillo "did know what she was doing."

The office of Deputy Public Defender Charles Hasse, who is representing Hermosillo, was not accepting messages when called for comment after business hours by The Associated Press.

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04/18/12

A California woman has pleaded not guilty to killing her 7-month old baby by pushing him from the fourth floor of a hospital parking structure.

Orange County district attorney's spokeswoman Farrah Emami says Sonia Hermosillo entered the plea Wednesday in Superior Court.

Prosecutors say Hermosillo removed a special helmet her son wore to reshape his head and then pushed him from the parking garage at Children's Hospital of Orange County on Aug. 22. They say she validated her parking ticket and drove away. The boy died two days later.

Hermosillo's husband, Noe Medina, has said his wife suffered from severe post-partum depression and was distraught over her son's medical condition.

Emami says a preliminary hearing has been scheduled for June 22.

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