RS Child Death
Date: 11-18-2022 6:39 PM - Word Count: 838

RS Child Death
   Grandmother, Aunt Accused in 5-Year-Old Boy's Death To Stand Trial
   Eds: Case INF2202047. The RCSD can be reached at
mib@riversidesheriff.org. Riverside County District Attorney's Office PIO Amy
McKenzie can be reached at 951-955-5834.
   INDIO (CNS) - The grandmother and aunt of a 5-year-old boy who died in
Coachella must stand trial on charges of murder and abuse against other
children, a judge ruled today.
   Hilaria Rangel, 55, and Miriam Silva, 39, were charged along with the
boy's mother, 37-year-old Vanessa Cervantes Rangel, with one felony count of
murder in the boy's death and with a misdemeanor count of abuse endangering an
11-year-old boy, according to court records. Vanessa Rangel was additionally
charged with felony counts of assault on a child under 8 resulting in death and
torture.
   According to court records, the Rangels were also charged with three
additional misdemeanor counts of abuse endangering a child, involving a 13-year-
old girl, a 6-year-old girl, and a 9-year-old boy. All kids were the siblings
of the 5-year-old boy, identified in court documents as John Doe.
   During a preliminary hearing at the Larson Justice Center in Indio
Thursday, Deputy District Attorney Brijida Rodarte presented the judge with
photos of John Doe from Sept. 8, showing the boy with lesions on his body, a
split lip, a bump on the back of his head, and about 1.5 inches of skin missing
on his right arm.
   On Friday, Investigator Ruben Martinez from the Riverside County
Sheriff's Department, who interviewed the boy's four siblings, who all also
lived with their mother and grandmother, testified that the children said their
mother beat the boy and would kick him so hard that he would fall to the
ground.
   The kids also told Martinez that their grandmother would often treat
the boy's wounds, change his diaper, carry him, and wipe his tears away ``so
that his mother wouldn't see that he was crying,'' Martinez said.
   Investigator Martin Alfaro, from the sheriff department's Central
Homicide Unit, testified that in 2019, Miriam Silva became the legal guardian
of the boy and one of his siblings and the grandmother became the legal
guardian of the other three children. He said the mother, Vanessa Rangel, lost
legal guardianship when CPS became involved in her case.
   Near the end of the preliminary hearing, defense attorney Shaun
Sullivan, representing Silva and defense attorney Christopher Hickey,
representing grandmother Hilaria Rangel, argued that the murder charge was an
overcharge for the defendants.
   But Rodarte said both defendants should stand on the murder charge
because there was ``three people surrounding a dead baby.''
   She said the grandmother was standing by and giving medical attention
``so that the abuse she knows is coming can continue to be perpetrated by
Vanessa to (John Doe),'' and that Silva had a ``legal-binding duty to care and
has committed this homicide by omission.''
   ``She's not just doing nothing, she's doing worse than nothing.
Allowing it to continue over an extended period of time,'' said Rodarte.
   Hickey argued, however, that ``unrelenting torment on (John Doe), I
think that's a stretch,'' pointing to evidence of the grandmother providing
continuous medical treatment for John Doe.
   Speaking on behalf of Silva, Sullivan said, ``Everything she did when
she became aware of (John Doe's) state showed a regard for (John Doe's) life.''
   At the end of the preliminary hearing on Friday, Riverside County
Superior Court Judge Dean Benjamini ruled that there was sufficient evidence to
warrant a trial for Hilaria Rangel and Silva on all of the charges.
   A post-preliminary hearing arraignment was set for Nov. 30 at the
Larson Justice Center in Indio.
   Vanessa Rangel, who was not involved in the preliminary hearing, is
due in court for a felony settlement conference on Dec. 28.
   On Sept. 8 at around 7:50 p.m., deputies from the Riverside County
Sheriff's Department's Thermal station responded to the 50400 block of South
Kenmore Street to administer juvenile medical aid, according to Sgt. Ben
Ramirez of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department.
   Ramirez said the deputies were directed to a 5-year-old who was not
breathing. Despite efforts from the deputies and Cal Fire medics, the child
died at the scene.
   On Sept. 13, sheriff's investigators searched a residence in the 51500
block of Date Street and arrested the deceased child's mother, Vanessa
Rangel, according to Ramirez. The child's grandmother, Hilaria Rangel, was
identified as a second suspect and arrested at a separate location in
Coachella, he said.
   Silva surrendered at the Thermal sheriff's station on Sept. 16,
according to Ramirez.
   The grandmother and Silva were booked into the Larry D. Smith
Correctional Facility in Banning and the mother was booked into the Robert
Presley Detention Center in Riverside. They were all being held on $1 million
bail.
   Copyright 2022, City News Service, Inc.

CNS-11-18-2022 18:39