Father held for court in alleged infant death
Giovanni Gomez, 28, faces first- and third-degree murder charges
An Exeter man was ordered held for court thisweek on murder charges in thed eath of his 11-week-old daughter.
An Exeter Township man was ordered held for court this week on murder charges in the death of his 11-week-old daughter.
Giovanni Gomez, 28, of the 1100 block of Fox Run was returned to Berks County Prison to await further court action after a hearing Monday before District Judge Sandra L. Fegley in Exeter.
Fegley ruled that there was enough evidence to proceed to the trial phase on all charges, including first- and third-degree murder, aggravated assault and child endangerment.
Gomez wasn’t physically present for the hearing. As a precaution, court officials opted to have him participate via teleconference from a computer in Berks County Prison. He wasn’t called to testify.
County Detective Frank Debellis was the lone witness called by Assistant District Attorney Meg McCallum.
At the conclusion of the hearing, defense attorney Daniel Emkey argued that the prosecution failed to meet the burden to establish there was a case for first-degree murder.
According to prosecutors:
On March 28 about 4 p.m., county emergency dispatchers contacted county detectives to investigate a near-death incident involving an infant.
The child’s mother called 9-1-1 requesting an ambulance for her daughter. She reported her daughter was breathing butwas pale, her lips were blue and she was cold to the touch.
An ambulance was dispatched to the home in the 1100 block of Fox Run, and medics immediately transported the baby to the trauma unit at Reading Hospital.
Detectives contacted Berks County Children and Youth Services and learned from a caseworker that the medical staff at the hospital performed a CAT scan on the baby that identified a brain bleed.
The baby was transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital in Philadelphia.
Detectives met with the caseworker and were escorted to the intensive care unit where they met with the baby’s father, Gomez.
Detectives learned the girl’s mother went to work March 27 about 2:15 p.m., leaving the baby in the care of Gomez.
Gomez said he fed the baby multiple times and gave her a bath about 8 p.m. He put the baby down for the night about 10:40 p.m.
He said the baby was vomiting, but he didn’t detect any medical concerns.
The mother returned home about 11:45 p.m. and found her daughter whining in her sleep. She said this was not normal.
She believed her daughter may have a cold.
The next morning, the baby was still whiny in her sleep and sounded congested, according to her mother.
She left the home to get medical items for the baby. When she got back, she and Gomez went to the baby’s bedroom and noticed the infant was having trouble breathing. The mother called 9-1-1.
On March 31, detectives spoke with a doctor who is a member of the child protection team at St. Christopher’s Hospital in Philadelphia. The doctor advised that an MRI/MRA was performed that identified a serious brain injury. Additionally, the child’s spine showed damage and there was minimal blood flow to the brain.
The doctor also saw hemorrhages in both eyes and concluded they were the result of an inflicted traumatic head injury.
The baby died in the hospital April 1 at 10:21 p.m.
Dr. Supriya Kuruvilla, a Reading Hospital forensic pathologist, performed an autopsy the next day. She concluded the death resulted from head and spinal cord injuries due to shaken impact and blunt force trauma.
The Berks County coroner’s office ruled the death a homicide.