An Oxnard couple was charged with murder and child abuse Tuesday for strangling and killing the woman’s baby boy at a hospital, hours after he was born, authorities said.
The child’s mother, Andrea Torralba Camacho, 20, and her boyfriend, David Villa, 21, were arrested on suspicion of strangling the infant on July 19, 2019, the Oxnard Police Department said.
One-day-old Diego Villa-Toralba was killed just 12 hours after he was born at St. John’s Medical Center on 1600 N. Rose Ave., according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
Officers were called to the hospital when medical staff found that the child was unresponsive and had “suspicious injuries,” police said.
Medical staff tried to treat him, but the infant succumbed to his injuries and died at the hospital, authorities said.
Villa and Camacho were arrested that night after an investigation found that the two had strangled the baby boy until he was unconscious, Oxnard police said.
Bail for each Villa and Camacho was set at $5 million, the DA said.
The couple’s arraignment was continued to Aug. 19, 2019, at a Ventura court.