Glendale couple arrested on murder charges after 7-month-old baby dies from head injury

A man and a mother of a 7-month-old baby boy were arrested and booked into jail on multiple felony charges including first-degree murder after Glendale police said they gave inconsistent statements regarding a severe head injury to the child that ultimately led to the child's death.

Court documents stated Glendale officers responded to Dignity Health AZ General Hospital near Camelback Road and 83rd Avenue on March 31 after a nurse reported that the child had been brought in "cold to the touch and limp" and was later declared dead after lifesaving measures failed.

Court documents said staff found bruising on the child's body and swelling on the right side of the head. Police questioned the couple, 23-year-old Jacob Gano and 26-year-old Tina Mejia, who told officers that the child had fallen out of bed at their apartment the previous day but they didn't take the child to the hospital as the child seemed fine to them.

It was not immediately clear if Gano was the father of the child.

Documents say Gano was evasive about providing their current address, which officers later determined to be an apartment complex near Bethany Home Road and 59th Avenue. Gano told officers he was visiting a relative when Mejia had called him several times telling him the boy was unresponsive, to which he told her to take an Uber to the hospital where he would meet her.

Mejia's mother had been caring for the boy until March 29 when Mejia came to her house to pick up her son. Documents said officers obtained a search warrant for the couple's studio apartment, which contained an air mattress in one corner and a single spring mattress in another. Documents stated the spring mattress was roughly 11 inches off the ground along with blankets and a car seat in the center of the living room.

Mejia told police her mother had cared for her child for the past few months before picking him up and taking him to her and Gano's new apartment. Mejia said she fell asleep with her son on the spring mattress on March 30 at about 9 p.m. but awoke to Gano yelling at her about her son crying.

Documents stated Mejia said she saw her son lying on the floor with a small area of swelling to the right side of his head but went back to sleep after he appeared to be acting normal.

Mejia told police she was home with her child all day on March 31 when she noticed the swelling to her son's head increased and called Gano before they visited the hospital. Documents stated Mejia told police that a pediatrician had diagnosed a "soft spot" on her son's head weeks earlier.

However, when detectives asked Mejia about food receipts she had dated on the same day her son died, Mejia admitted she hadn't actually been home all day. She said Gano picked her and her son up to go get food and returned to the studio apartment, which was when her son became unresponsive. She said Gano drove them to the hospital rather than taking an Uber while Gano was away, according to court records.

When detectives asked Gano about the inconsistency, Gano said he met Mejia at the fast food restaurant with his relative and was unsure who took an Uber and who drove their own car.

Glendale police ultimately released the couple from custody.

An autopsy on the child later revealed that the child had a severe injury to the skull with multiple fractures likely caused by "several instances of trauma" that weren't consistent with an 11-inch fall. Court documents stated the injury's severity would have led to a severe altered mental state and continuous screaming or crying from the pain.

Documents noted that, while the injury could have occurred on the evening of March 30, it would have been the maximum amount of time the child could have survived before dying.

Detectives downloaded data from Gano and Mejia's cellphones, which showed no record of any phone calls between the two on the day the child died. Additionally, security footage from the fast food restaurant showed the two arriving at about 6 p.m. on Sunday when Mejia obtained a bag of ice. Footage from the hospital showed Mejia exiting the passenger seat of a car while carrying her child at about 7:45 p.m.

Documents stated police interviewed the boy's pediatrician, who said he never diagnosed a "soft spot" on the child's head and that the boy was healthy during the numerous times he visited for vaccinations over the past few months.

After police rearrested the two, Mejia told police she suspected Gano had injured the child, though she didn't call 911 for help, seek medical attention or otherwise seek help from anyone, documents said. She also said Gano never threatened her to not call 911 or seek help.

Documents said Gano admitted that he hadn't gone to a relative's house on March 31, but rather the three drove around selling illegal drugs before going to a fast food restaurant to get a bag of ice for the baby's head. Gano said the child became unresponsive after they returned home, during which he performed CPR on the child and successfully revived him, documents said.

Rather than go to the hospital, Gano told police he and Mejia went to an area near 35th and Glendale avenues to buy more illegal drugs for Mejia to use before going to an area near 75th Avenue and Bethany Home Road where Mejia had dropped Gano off so he could buy illegal drugs, documents said.

Documents stated Gano told police that Mejia later called him saying the boy was unresponsive again and picked him up in the car. Gano told police that he saw the boy's head was severely swollen and bruised and suspected Mejia had caused the injuries as he didn't notice the injuries when she dropped him off.

Documents stated Gano told police he knew the child needed medical attention while they were at the fast food restaurant but opted not to call 911 or seek medical help.

Glendale police arrested and booked Gano and Mejia into jail with both facing one count of first-degree murder and one count of child abuse. Both are being held on a $500,000 bond. Their next court hearing is on April 16 in Maricopa County Superior Court.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Glendale couple charged with murder after baby dies from head injury