Mom found sane in 2011 death of baby dropped from California garage, prosecutors say
A California woman was found sane on Monday by a jury after she was accused of dropping her 7-month-old child off the roof of a parking garage a decade ago, officials said.
Sonia Hermosillo, 41, of La Habra was convicted by an Orange County Superior Court jury of first-degree murder and one felony count of assault on a child causing death in August, according to a news release from the Office of the District Attorney in Orange County.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges by reason of insanity, prompting an additional trial to determine if she was sane, the news release states.
If Hermosillo was found legally insane, she would have been placed in a treatment program rather than prison, KTTV reported.
But because the jury concluded Hermosillo was sane when she was accused of tossing her son Noe Medina Jr. off a roof, she faces 25 years to life in prison, according to the news release and KTTV.
Experts from the defense’s side testified that she suffered from postpartum psychosis, the East Bay Times reported, while experts from the prosecutor’s side called her severely depressed.
On Aug. 22, 2011, Hermosillo drove to the Children’s Hospital of Orange County where her son regularly received medical care. But on this day, she didn’t have an appointment for him, according to the news release.
She drove to the fourth floor of the parking garage, removed the child’s medical helmet and pushed him over the edge, the release says.
Then Hermosillo validated her parking in the hospital and drove off.
The Orange Police Department responded to the scene after a witness saw the baby fall. Noe was in critical condition and taken to a trauma center at University of California, Irvine, Medical Center, according to the news release.
Hermosillo’s husband reported her and their son missing after the incident, and police later arrested her near the hospital.
Their son died two days later.
Following the child’s death, Hermosillo told police, “No, I would rather he died” and that she killed him “because he’s sick,” KTTV reported.
The child was born with a flat head and twisted neck syndrome, the news outlet said.
But her defense attorney Jacqueline Goodman said she suffered a “psychotic break” when she drove her son to the hospital, The Orange County Register reported.
Hermosillo barely ate or slept leading up to the child’s death, Goodman said, and she was often “catatonic” and “wandering off.” When she told police she didn’t love her son during an interview, Goodman related it to her mental illness, the news outlet reported.
“No child should die at the hands of another human being, let alone the very person whose most basic responsibility is to keep that child safe from harm,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “Baby Noe should be here today, but he is not because of the methodical and callous decision by his own mother to push him to his death. No words can express the incredible sorrow that his father and siblings have had to suffer by the loss of Baby Noe.”
Hermosillo will be sentenced Oct. 29 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.
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