According to court records obtained by Channel 2 News, 17-year-old Enrique Medina, Jr. is being held in the Washoe County Jail after allegedly killing his seven-month-old son in December of 2013.
Court records indicate that emergency personnel were called to a home in the 1000 block of G Street in Sparks just after 4 a.m. on December 16th, 2013 on the report of an infant that had stopped breathing. Records show that the child, Manuel, was found by first responders unresponsive, not breathing and with an irregular heartbeat. Documents say the first responding officers noticed a mark on the left side of the child's face that extended from his temple across his cheek. Manuel was taken to Renown Regional Medical Center and admitted to the ICU where he passed away on December 19th, 2013.
According to court records, Sparks Police Detectives questioned several people who lived in the home including the child's father, Enrique Medina Jr., who was 15 years-old at the time of the death. The affidavit states that Medina's story about the incident changed several times and varied to each person he told it to, including detectives. According to the report, several witnesses described in interviews that Medina would get upset when the baby would cry with one witness saying "Enrique would get loud and make statements such as 'what's wrong?'". The report says detectives interviewed Medina's brother, Brandon who told them "he remembered a time in October when Enrique got so frustrated with Manuel that he came to Brandon and said, 'please help me'. Brandon said he assisted Enrique so he didn't blow his own brains out'".
After the infant passed away, the body was taken to the Washoe County Medical Examiner's Office where an autopsy was performed. Court records show that during the autopsy, the medical examiner found the injury on the side of the child's face as well as abrasions to the inside of the baby's mouth along the inside of his upper lip and cheek on the left side of his mouth. The report says that after further testing was completed, it was determined that the cause of death was injuries to the brain and spinal cord as a result of blunt force trauma and that the manner of death was homicide.Â
A warrant was issued for the arrest of the baby's father, 17-year-old Enrique Medina, Jr., on Tuesday and he was booked into the Washoe County Jail on one count of First Degree Murder and carrying a concealed weapon.
