Father jailed for assaulting 4-month-old daughter; baby now dead (San Bernadino County, California)

Dad BRANDON VIQUELIA was initially jailed on suspicion of willful injury to a child charges, after deputes found his 4-month-old daughter unconscious with "signs of trauma consistent with abuse." Dad had been "alone" with the child at the time of assault. Now the baby has died in the hospital, and it is expected that the charges will be upgraded.

INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT: This is another one of those cases where there is no mention of the mother. Given that this is San Bernadino County, where judges like Robert Lemkau are now infamous for ordering infants into unsupervised contact with known abusive fathers, you have to wonder about the context of this crime. Was Dad babysitting? Did he have court-ordered visitation? Custody?

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_W_nb07_baby.180859d.html

4-month-old abuse victim dies

06:06 PM PDT on Thursday, May 6, 2010
The Press-Enterprise

A 4-month-old girl injured earlier this week died today as her father remains jailed in connection with the attack, officials said.

The baby was hospitalized Tuesday afternoon after deputies discovered her unconscious and inside her apartment on 19th Street in Rancho Cucamonga. Doctors noticed signs of trauma consistent with abuse, and alerted investigators.

On Wednesday, San Bernardino County sheriff's detectives arrested her father, Brandon Viquelia, on suspicion of willful injury to a child. The charge is expected to be amended to assault on a child causing death.

The baby had been violently shaken, said sheriff's homicide Sgt. Frank Bell, although a motive is still unclear. Viquelia was alone with the child at the time, Bell said.

--Paul LaRocco

plarocco@PE.com