A couple was arrested on suspicion of abusing and murdering their 1-year-old son in Barstow and then taken to Pomona with his lifeless body.
Ricardo Mendez, 27, and Antanita Miller, 24, both of Barstow, were staying at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga Tuesday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office reported.
The couple are being held without bail and are due to appear in a Victorville court on Thursday. Mendez was also booked for a suspended violation, booking records show.
Barstow Police reported that Pomona Police had notified them of a suspicious death in Barstow on Monday at approximately 11pm.
Earlier that evening, Pomona Police at Pomona Valley Hospital responded to investigate a suspicious death of a 1-year-old boy, who did not respond and was pronounced dead by medical personnel on arrival.
Pomona Detectives noted that the child had sustained injuries consistent with continued abuse. They also saw visible signs of trauma to the boy’s body, such as lesions, bruises and burns. Some injuries appeared to be in different stages of the healing process.
Pomona detectives also revealed that the abuse likely took place at the child’s home where he lived with his parents in Barstow.
Detectives also stated that the boy died of those injuries in Barstow before his parents took him to Pomona.
After the Pomona Police Department notified the BPD of the status of their investigation, the Barstow Police Department assigned detectives and crime scene investigators to the child’s home at 700 Block of East Virginia Way in Barstow. and went to Pomona Valley Hospital.
The couple’s home is located just south of Barstow Community Hospital and near the Department of Motor Vehicles office.
Barstow detectives Mathew Helms and Monty Franklin responded to Pomona where they interviewed witnesses and contacted the victim’s parents, Mendez and Miller.
Detectives learned that Mendez and Miller unexpectedly arrived about 7 p.m. Monday at Mendez’s family home in Pomona, nearly 90 miles from Barstow.
Relatives found the child’s lifeless body in the back of the couple’s car.
Some of Mendez’s relatives immediately took the boy’s body to the PVH for treatment, while Mendez and Miller remained at the family home.
Some time later, Miller arrived at the hospital where officers detained her. Mendez left the family home and was found and held in the 2100 block of Spencer Street by Pomona Police.
Barstow police detectives issued search warrants at the couple’s home and vehicle, where they found evidence believed to have been used during the assault on the child.
Anyone with information about this investigation is asked by the Barstow Police Department to contact Detective Matthew Helms at 760-255-5132 or [email protected].
Those who wish to remain anonymous may also provide information by calling the WE-TIP hotline at 1-800-79-CRIME (27469) or by visiting wetip.com.
This story is under development and will be updated as more information becomes available.
Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz can be reached at 760-951-6227 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz
This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Barstow couple arrested on suspicion of murdering their 1-year-old son
