NM Supreme Court decides to keep man’s conviction in child’s death in Las Cruces
Gabrielle Lopez
SANTA FE, N.M. (KVIA) — Monday, the New Mexico Supreme Court unanimously ruled to keep a Doña Ana County man’s intentional child abuse conviction in the death of a 2-year-old in Las Cruces.
The state supreme court said it rejected Lalo Anthony Castrillo IV’s arguments that there wasn’t enough evidence that he caused the child’s death and he was wrongly denied a new trial.
Castrillo requested a new trial based on a photo the child’s mother posted after the trial. The court said it showed the child with a bruise on her head. Justices said the photo was taken six months before the victim’s death.
“Because the photo was taken months before both Victim’s death and the two earlier injuries Defendant claims caused her death, we conclude that the evidence was not material and therefore that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Defendant’s motion for a new trial,” the court said.
An autopsy listed head and brain injuries that happened about the time of the child’s death. A doctor with the Office of the Medical Investigator said “blunt injuries to her head” caused the child’s death.
Justice Briana Zamora wrote in the court decision that the injuries weren’t accidental and the injuries happened when the child was under Castrillo’s care in 2018.
The child died when Castrillo babysat her while the mother, his girlfriend, worked, the court said.
The court also said Castrillo didn’t call 911 for more than an hour after finding the child in distress. The court said he looked up “how to get blood pu[m]ping w[hen] child in shock” online during part of that time.