A San Diego man accused of inflicting fatal injuries on his 7-week-old daughter was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on charges of
murder and assault on a child causing death.
Jaime Santillanes, 38, is accused of causing the death of Genevieve Santillanes, who died at a hospital three days after police were called to the
family’s University City home last March for a report of a baby who had stopped breathing.
Santillanes was arrested following a police investigation in which SDPD consulted with “medical personnel who have specialized in training in
child-abuse related injuries to determine exactly what occurred,’’ SDPD Lt. Steve Shebloski said.
At a preliminary hearing held to determine whether he will go to trial on the charges, SDPD Sgt. Mark Sullivan testified that Santillanes told
police he was sitting on a couch and holding the child while feeding her.
He said that at some point he fell asleep while still holding the child and woke up after falling to the ground, with his entire body weight
falling onto the baby, Sullivan testified.
Dr. Mallory McPhee, a pediatrician who helps conducts assessments at Rady Children’s Hospital of possible child abuse cases, testified that she
examined the child’s injuries.
McPhee said the explanation Santillanes provided was inconsistent with the injuries the child sustained, which included multiple skull fractures.
The doctor said she could not opine on how exactly the baby sustained her injuries, but testified that due the severity of the injuries, `”I would
have expected something extremely traumatic to have occurred … like a fall from several stories, a very significant car accident, some sort of incident that had extreme forces present.’’
Defense attorney Brian Watkins disagreed with McPhee’s conclusion and argued it was a leap to find the injuries were sustained in a non-accidental
manner. Watkins said the doctor conceded that she didn’t know how exactly the injuries occurred and thus his client shouldn’t be held to answer on charges alleging an assault.
Deputy District Attorney Erin Casey argued that child abuse cases rarely have witnesses that can shed light on how exactly such injuries are
inflicted, but the doctor’s expertise informed her opinion that Santillanes’ explanation was `”implausible.’’
Santillanes remains in county jail without bail.
