NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - A Connecticut man was charged with manslaughter Monday in connection with the 2019 death of a four-month-old baby who suffered head and neck injuries, New Haven State’s Attorney Patrick Griffin said.
Angel Rodriguez, 35, of Bridgeport, was arrested on a warrant and arraigned in New Haven Superior Court, where a judge ordered him detained on $500,000 bail. He is due back in court on Jan. 19.
A message seeking comment was left for Rodriguez’s public defender Monday.
Rodriguez, who police say denied injuring the baby, was caring for the girl in New Haven when she became unresponsive on Nov. 8, 2019, and he called 911. The child died two days later at a hospital. The chief medical examiner’s office determined the cause of death to be homicide by blunt impact injuries to her head and neck.
The child’s mother told police she fed the baby on the morning of Nov. 8 and left her in the care of Rodriguez while she went to work. Rodriguez told investigators the baby was laughing and behaving normally that morning, but in the afternoon he discovered her face down on her belly and she was blue and cold to the touch.
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