Lawsuit blames Artesia hospital for baby's death as mother is charged with murder

A lawsuit filed by a representative of the deceased son of Alexee Trevizo, 19, who was charged with murdering the newborn, alleged Artesia General Hospital was guilty of medical malpractice causing the baby’s death.

Trevizo was arrested in May after police said she gave birth to her son Alex Ray Fierro in January in a bathroom at the hospital and put the baby in a trashcan where he suffocated.

She was charged with first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.

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The criminal case was bound over to Fifth Judicial District Court after Trevizo was released from custody ahead of the trial scheduled for Feb. 1, 2024.

But the lawsuit filed July 26 in Fourth District Judicial Court in San Miguel County – the place of residence for Fierro’s wrongful death representative Arthur Bustos who filed the complaint – accused staff at the hospital of “negligence” on the night of incident and blamed them for the death of the child.

Artesia General Hospital did not respond to a request for comment from the Carlsbad Current-Argus and had not filed a response to the accusations as of Wednesday.

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The hospital, along with physician Heather Marshall Vaskas and several unnamed staff members were listed as plaintiffs in the suit, which sought punitive damages to be determined at trial.

On Jan. 26, Trevizo went to the hospital’s emergency department complaining of back and lower abdominal pain, after working out with the Artesia High School cheerleader team earlier that day, read the suit.

She had used birth control pills, the suit read, and worked out about two hours, five days a week.

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On the day of her visit, Trevizo worked out for “more than three hours,” which she believed was the cause of the pain, read the suit.

She was given a muscle relaxer and pain medication, the suit read, including morphine.

Trevizo was also given a pregnancy test that came back positive at about 12:30 a.m. Jan. 27, but the medication was not stopped, read the suit, despite warnings for use if pregnant.

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Hospital staff should have known she was pregnant for 48 minutes, the suit read, before she went to the bathroom where the baby was born.

Trevizo left the bathroom at about 1:56 a.m., and walked back to her room with no assistance, the suit read.

The baby was pronounced dead at about 2:38 a.m., after police said hospital staff found him in a bathroom trashcan.

The suit did not address the allegations that the child was placed in the trash by Trevizo.

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Hospital staff were accused of failing to follow guidelines that Trevizo should have been examined before being allowed to go to the bathroom to ensure she wasn’t in labor “especially after muscle relaxants and morphine have ben given via an IV.”

“The hospital employees and doctors were aware of the pregnancy at 12:51 a.m., failed to inform Alexee that she was pregnant, and failed to take the necessary healthcare procedures and protocols for a pregnant woman who was at a term pregnancy,” read the suit. “The decedent died from the malpractice of defendants.”

Later, the suit alleged hospital staff allowed police officers into Trevizo’s hospital room for questioning with their lapel cameras turned on.

Videos from the interview, along with Trevizo’s medical records and lab results were released to the Artesia Police Department without her consent, the suit read, and later to the public.

The suit argued this was a violation of Trevizo’s rights under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA).

“The hospital violated the HIPPA laws by allowing the taking of such videos, and the release of protected health information,” read the suit.

Adrian Hedden can be reached at 575-628-5516, achedden@currentargus.com or @AdrianHedden on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Lawsuit blames Artesia hospital for baby's death amid murder charge