Barstow couple arrested on suspicion of killing their 1-year old son, driving body to Pomona

A couple was arrested on suspicion of abusing and killing their 1-year-old son in Barstow, then driving his lifeless body to Pomona.

Ricardo Mendez, 27, and Antanita Miller, 24, both of Barstow, remained at the West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on Tuesday, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s officials reported.

The couple is being held without bail and scheduled to appear on Thursday in Victorville Superior Court. Mendez was also booked for a parole violation, booking records show.

The Barstow Police Department reported that at approximately 11 p.m. on Monday, the Pomona Police Department notified them of a suspicious death that occurred in Barstow.

Earlier that evening, Pomona Police responded to the Pomona Valley Hospital to investigate a suspicious death of a 1-year-old boy, who arrived unresponsive and was pronounced dead by medical personnel upon arrival.

Pomona Detectives observed that the child had sustained injuries consistent with ongoing abuse. They also observed visible signs of trauma to the boy’s body, such as lesions, bruising, and burn marks. Some of the injuries appeared to be in different stages of the healing process.

Pomona detectives also revealed that the abuse likely occurred in the child’s home where he lived with his parents in Barstow.

Detectives also stated that the boy died of those injuries in Barstow before his parents drove him to Pomona.

After Pomona Police notified the BPD of the status of their investigation, Barstow Police assigned homicide detectives and crime scene investigators, who responded to the child’s home in the 700 Block of East Virginia Way in Barstow and to Pomona Valley Hospital.

The couple's home is just south of Barstow Community Hospital and near the Department of Motor Vehicles office.

Angie Bennett, property manager for Beacon Property Management, which owns Sunrise Vista as well as Sunset Pointe Apartments in Barstow, told the Daily Press she had no information to share on the incident or the involved tenants.

Word of the horrific event had already spread Wednesday morning throughout the Barstow apartment complex where the murder allegedly took place. Multiple Sunrise Vista residents declined to comment, saying they’d heard about the child’s death but knew little about the people involved.

One resident of a Sunrise Vista apartment, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Daily Press she has lived at the complex for a couple of years and said Miller and Mendez weren’t familiar faces.

“I can tell you they haven’t been here that long,” she said.

“I just get sick to my stomach when I hear about a kid getting murdered by their biological parents,” one of the residents said.

Barstow detectives Mathew Helms and Monty Franklin responded to Pomona where they interviewed witnesses and contacted the victim’s parents, Mendez and Miller.

Detectives learned that at approximately 7 p.m. on Monday, Mendez and Miller arrived unexpectedly at Mendez’s family’s home in Pomona, nearly 90 miles away from Barstow.

Family members found the child’s lifeless body in the back of the couple’s vehicle.

Some of Mendez’s family members immediately drove the boy’s body to the PVH for treatment while Mendez and Miller stayed at the family home.

Sometime later, Miller arrived at the hospital where officers detained her. Mendez left the family home and was found and detained in the 2100 block of Spencer Street by Pomona Police.

Barstow Police Detectives served search warrants at the couple’s residence and vehicle, where they located items of evidence believed to have been used during the assault on the child.

A torch lighter was found in the vehicle, Barstow Police Captain Chris Kirby said. The burn marks on the infant were of different sizes and shapes, all consistent with that torch lighter. The burns were found all over the child’s body.

Lesions and bruising were also found all over the child’s body, Kirby said.

The couple had four children under their care, including two that are with Child Protective Services and found with no injuries. Another child was already under the care of a family member, Barstow Police Chief Andrew Espinoza told the Daily Press.

Espinoza said the burns on the child were not small. He also added that the child "had injuries all over his body, not just one area."

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked by Barstow Police to contact Detective Matthew Helms at 760-255-5132 or at mhelms@barstowca.org.

Those wishing to remain anonymous may also provide information by calling the WE-TIP hotline at 1-800-79-CRIME (27469) or by going to wetip.com.

This story is developing and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Barstow couple arrested on suspicion of killing 1-year old son