Bridgeport man charged in death of New Haven baby

NEW HAVEN — Police charged a 35-year-old Bridgeport man Monday in the death of a 4-monthold infant girl in November 2019.

Angel Rodriguez is charged with first-degree manslaughter and risk of injury, according to a release from the office of New Haven State’s Attorney Patrick J. Griffin.

The Central Avenue resident was arraigned Monday before Judge Brian T. Fischer in New Haven Superior Court and bond was set at $500,000.

It was not clear Monday whether Rodriguez was being represented by an attorney.

The case began after New Haven police, fire and emergency medical personnel from American Medical Response responded on Nov. 8, 2019 to a 911 call for an “unresponsive four-month-old baby,” the release said.

“First responders treated and transported the baby to the Yale-New Haven Children’s Hospital where she was placed in the pediatric intensive care unit on a ventilator, still unresponsive, and in critical condition,” the release said.

The infant died at the hospital two days later, according to authorities.

The name of the infant and her parents were not disclosed in the release or in a copy of Rodriguez’ arrest warrant obtained by Hearst Connecticut Media.

The office of the Chief Medical Examiner later ruled the death a homicide, and determined the baby had died “due to blunt impact injury of the head and neck.”

The infant’s mother told investigators she fed her child that morning before leaving for work, with Rodriguez watching her.

“Rodriguez told investigators that the baby was moving, laughing, and behaving normally in the morning, but he telephoned 911 in the afternoon after he discovered the child on her belly, face down on a bed, blue and cold to the touch,” the release said.

Rodriguez performed CPR on the infant with instructions from the 911 operator, according to police.

In December, New Haven police again interviewed Rodriguez and the infant’s mother after the original detective working the case retired.

During her original interview with police in November 2019, the mother told police her 9-year-old son had stepped on the infant’s head while jumping on the bed months before, according to the warrant. The baby was checked at a pediatrician’s office and x-rayed, which did not reveal any injuries, the mother told police.

She also told police in December the child had fallen two days before the incident which led to her death— not two weeks prior, as she had originally told investigators in 2019, the warrant states.

When police interviewed Rodriguez again in 2020, he denied harming the baby and said she had suffered a fall while with her mother, which she did not tell him about until after the incident.

A medical examiner told police the infant could not have survived for several days with the injuries she had sustained, according to the warrant The doctor “also said that the injuries that were sustained were not caused by any type of f all.”

Rodriguez was the only person home at the time of the incident, the release said.

The release said Griffin is “grateful to the New Haven Police Department for their continued commitment to this case, including recent follow-up interviews, which culminated in the warrant application.”

Rodriguez is due back in court on Jan. 19.