Teen dad who had broken up with baby's mom charged with capital murder in death of infant son (Edinburg, Texas)

Statistically, teen males are the most dangerous persons to have around infants--especially when they have broken up with the mother and are not bonded to her. They really should not have unsupervised custody/visitation rights for this reason. UNNAMED DAD.

http://www.krgv.com/story/31308334/teen-accused-in-sons-death-faces-judge

Teen Accused in Son’s Death Faces Judge

Posted: Feb 24, 2016 8:10 PM EST Updated: Feb 24, 2016 8:10 PM EST

EDINBURG – A 16-year-old charged with capital murder for the death of his infant son faced a judge again on Wednesday.

The teen will remain in juvenile detention until March 15, his next scheduled court appearance date. In the meantime, he’ll undergo a psychiatric evaluation to help decide how the case will proceed.

On Wednesday, new details were revealed about the case. The 16-year-old is only in ninth grade. He apparently had dropped out of school to work full-time to support his child.

The teen father and the 16-year-old mother of the baby broke up soon before the baby's death. The baby was alone with the father at his in-laws’ house, when he was found unresponsive.

The 16-year-old turned himself in, once the preliminary autopsy report revealed blunt force trauma to the baby’s head.

On Monday, the judge kept referring to an apparent confession in the case.

On Wednesday, the defense argued against the alleged confession. They said there are three statements from the teen; none are in his handwriting. Two of those statements were not notarized, and two did not have witnesses. The defense also said one statement was filed by a detaining officer, but the teen was not detained at the time of the statement.

“Confessions require constitutional safeguards,” said Robert Salinas, the teen’s court-appointed attorney. “You should be Mirandized by a judge. You should be reported your constitutional privileges, pursuant to Miranda versus Arizona. There is nothing in those statements that indicate they complied with the requirements of a voluntary accused statement.”

The teen father will turn 17 within the month. Judge Jesse Contreras said that doesn’t really change anything.

The judge expects the district attorney to file a petition to certify the teen as an adult, regardless of when his birthday is.

The baby who died was the teen’s only child.