Eagle Nest father arrested for baby's death
Nearly a year after the Colfax County Sheriff's Office began investigating the death of an eight-month old baby in Eagle Nest, the department has announced the arrest of Eagle Nest resident Mariano Araica-Avalos, the baby's father.
According to a news release from Undersheriff Leonard Baca on Jan. 27, Colfax County sheriff deputies arrested Araica-Avalos for abuse of a child resulting in death.
According to the release, on March 19, 2016, "deputies were dispatched to a residence in Eagle Nest because of an unresponsive child. The child, identified as eight-month-old Arayah Araica, was pronounced dead on scene."
"Mariano Araica-Avalos said she had fallen from the bed. An autopsy report later indicated Arayah died from significant trauma, including broken ribs, a muscular neck hemorrhage, and a fractured skull," the release said.
Baca told The Chronicle that work on the case was a long process, noting the office had to wait for the autopsy to be returned from the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator in Albuquerque and a report from the Children, Youth and Family Department's (CYFD) protective services division in Santa Fe, which conducted its own investigation.
"Once we got that back [detectives had] to review it. Once that was reviewed by Detective Clayton Moore from our office and the state police, [Araica-Avalos] was arrested and booked into the Vigil-Maldonado Detention Center. Within 10 working days he will have to go before the magistrate judge for a preliminary hearing. At that point he'll either waive the hearing or they will have the hearing to determine if there's probable cause to forward it to district court," Baca said.
The Colfax County Sheriff's Office investigated the incident with assistance from the New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau and Crime Scene Team.
