Preliminary hearing in 3-year-old’s death moved to June
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A preliminary hearing for a woman charged with murder in the death of her 3-year-old foster child was postponed Thursday.
The hearing, previously scheduled Monday, is now set for June 20, according to Superior Court records.
Manslaughter charge filed in connection to 2022 assault
Margaret Eichhorst, 32, is being held without bail in the death of Alejandro Perez Jr.
Deputies were called Feb. 9 to the 500 block of El Tejon Avenue and met Eichhorst, the reporting party, who said Alejandro wasn’t breathing when she checked on him just before calling 911, according to court filings.
The boy had bruises and cuts to his face and body, the filings say, and hexagonal-patterned discolorations on his back. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy determined Alejandro died from blunt force trauma to his head, the filings say. Internal injuries included bleeding in his chest — caused by a small tear to his heart — as well as bleeding near his bladder and to his brain, according to the documents.
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Sheriff’s investigators obtained reports from the Department of Human Services regarding Eichhorst’s suitability as a foster parent.
Contained in the reports were emails saying Eichhorst had been diagnosed with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder. She’s a military veteran.
An entry made on June 26, 2023, says, “Margaret Eichhorst interviews completed. Ms. Eichhorst has a great deal of trauma.”
“Ms. Eichhorst still has trauma from her childhood,” says a later entry. “Ms. Eichhorst has initiated counseling to address her childhood trauma. Has been partially mitigated.”
Eichhorst refused to discuss her medical history with investigators, the filings say.
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