THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, November 17, 1994 TAG: 9411170480
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A01 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
A father recently charged with failing to adequately feed his infant son admitted two years ago in California that frustration at work led him to prevent another of his children from breathing for several seconds.
Details of the California incident surfaced Wednesday during a Circuit Court hearing.
Virginia Beach's Department of Social Services was aware of the earlier incident, but returned the son, Christopher N. Herrera, to his parents' care in October, three months before their trial on charges of felony child neglect is to begin.
When authorities intervened in May, Christopher was 5 months old but weighed just 9 pounds 6 ounces. His ribs stuck out and his buttocks were little more than flat folds of skin.
``The public doesn't know the facts,'' Social Services Director Daniel M. Stone said of his agency's decision to return the child. ``My agency knows the facts.''
Martin Herrera, 21, was a seaman apprentice at a Navy base in Vallejo, Calif., and lived in Navy housing with his wife, Karen, and Jessia Lynn, their daughter, who was then 3 months old. A former California neighbor, Jacqueline M. Gaddis, testified Wednesday that she went to the Herreras' home one afternoon to use their phone when she heard Jessica crying upstairs. The crying stopped shortly before Martin Herrera came downstairs.
Karen Herrera, 20, went up to check on the girl, then Gaddis heard the infant ``screaming.''
``She was like crying and sucking air in, like she was trying to catch her breath,'' Gaddis said.
Karen Herrera came halfway down the stairs, holding a red-faced and sweating Jessica in her arms, and yelled at her husband.
``She said: `Martin, don't you ever do that again!' '' Gaddis told the court.
``What was Martin's reaction?'' Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Janee D. Joslin asked.
``He sort of laughed it off,'' Gaddis said. ``Just acted like it was nothing.''
Gaddis said she didn't learn until the next day what had happened. Karen Herrera told her that Martin had zipped Jessica into a sleeping bag and ``put blankets on top of it,'' Gaddis said. ``Six, I believe.''
Martin Herrera, wearing a dress-blue Navy uniform, stared down in front of him during Gaddis' testimony. Karen Herrera stared at her former neighbor.
She had told Gaddis then that Martin had felt guilty and confided in a Navy chaplain, Gaddis said. That day, the Herreras took Jessica to a base medical clinic, where a counselor notified the Naval Criminal Investigation Service of possible child abuse.
Special Agent Jennifer A. Canaday interviewed Martin Herrera at the clinic, and he wrote out a two-page statement in small, neat printing.
In his statement, Martin Herrera said that he squeezed Jessica's nose shut while she sucked on a bottle in her bassinet. When she started choking on the milk, he removed the bottle and ``then reached down with my other hand (right) and used my two first fingers and lifted her jaw shut. I then held both her nose and mouth shut for about 10 seconds.''
``I was feeling frustrated because of the people I work with,'' he continued. ``I was thinking frustration. I stopped because my conscious (sic) told me too (sic). I didn't direct my frustration at her, I was using her as a release valve.''
He wrote that he knew she could die from lack of oxygen, so he let her go.
``I was not in control at the start, but I was in control when I told myself to stop. . . .
``I wouldn't have taken it to the point of killing her, for God's sake she (sic) my own flesh and blood.''
He was arrested by Vallejo police on suspicion of attempted murder, but never was prosecuted. Special Agent Canaday testified that Jessica was placed for a time in protective custody at Karen Herrera's request.
Joslin wants to use the incident as evidence of a pattern of dangerous behavior by Martin Herrera Jr.
Attorneys for the Herreras protested admission of the evidence; Judge Kenneth M. Whitehurst will decide the issue next month.
Outraged prosecutors, Christopher's court-appointed guardian and the foster parents he was placed with for five months decried Social Services' decision to return the boy to his parents. The foster parents, 16-year veterans of the program, quit the Virginia Beach program in disgust after Christopher was removed from their care.
Stone said his agency is satisfied that Christopher will be safe with his parents. Next month, Karen Herrera is due to give birth to the couple's third child. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Karen Herrera had her daughter placed in protective custody.
Martin Herrera was recently charged with felony child neglect.
KEYWORDS: CHILD ABUSE CHILD NEGLECT
by CNB