Posted on 06/14/2006 6:14:38 AM PDT by NYer
SCHENECTADY -- A transient's anger over his girlfriend's relationships with other men may explain why he targeted the woman's 4-year-old daughter for abuse that left the youngster with broken bones and possible blindness, authorities said.
Jose Munoz allegedly broke bones in Xctasy Garcia's arm and shoulder and then held a bleach-soaked rag to her eyes as punishment for urinating in her pants Saturday. Her body was covered with bruises and cigarette burns that police believe were inflicted earlier.
Munoz administered stern discipline to the girl and her 7- and 8-year-old brothers, but authorities said the girl took the brunt of the abuse. Investigators are examining the theory that Munoz singled out Xctasy because her mother, Delia Hernandez, 26, conceived her with another man, according to several officials familiar with the case. Munoz is the father of the 7-year-old boy.
"He attacked the little girl because she was the embodiment of the infidelity," said one law enforcement official who agreed to discuss the possible motive if given anonymity.
The case has inspired an outpouring of support and rage from people calling Albany Medical Center Hospital to ask how they can make donations or otherwise help the girl.
Munoz allegedly attacked the girl Saturday in the squalid room he, Hernandez and her two boys shared at the Twins Motel on State Street. Munoz is accused of snapping the radius bone in Xctasy's left forearm and breaking her shoulder after she resisted her mother's efforts to put her in the corner of the room as punishment for soiling herself. Police said he later rubbed the bleach-soaked rag into her eyes.
The bleach swelled the girl's eyes shut, leaving her eyelids a sickly pink ringed by angry red scabs. She has undergone medical treatment and observation since Sunday, but police said they are unsure whether she will regain her sight.
"Every once in a while, this job teaches you new and unwanted lessons in human cruelty. This is one of those days," District Attorney Robert M. Carney said.
Andra Ackerman, chief of the district attorney's bureau on sex crimes and child abuse, said, "If this girl loses her sight, the last thing she's going to remember is her parents burning her eyes."
On Tuesday, police upgraded the charges against Munoz and Hernandez to first-degree assault, a charge that could land them both in prison for up to 25 years. An additional charge of unlawful imprisonment also was lodged against them.
Munoz and Hernandez are both originally from Puerto Rico, and had been in Schenectady for only a month. Initially, they were charged with child endangerment, a misdemeanor, and second-degree assault, a felony that carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.
In light of the new charges and their lack of ties to Schenectady, City Court Judge Vincent Versaci revoked the $15,000 bail set for both Munoz and Hernandez after their arraignments Monday on the misdemeanor charges.
Hernandez's attorney, Stephen Rockmacher, said Hernandez claimed she also had been hit by Munoz on Sunday, though Rockmacher said she had not told him what led to it.
"She's very despondent and depressed right now," he said.
Social services was paying their rent at the Twins Motel. County officials said Child Protective Services was unaware of the couple until St. Clare's Hospital began treating the girl on Sunday and called police to report the possible abuse.
Xctasy was later transferred to the Albany hospital because of the extent of her injuries. Police are trying to determine if there was a history of child abuse charges lodged against Hernandez and Munoz during recent stays in Worcester, Mass., and Puerto Rico.
The boys have been placed in foster care.
Staff writer Anne Miller contributed to this report. Mike Goodwin can be reached at 518-454-5465 or by e-mail at mgoodwin@timesunion.com.
How to help Xctasy
Schenectady police, Schenectady County Social Services workers and the district attorney's office are setting up a hot line for people who want to make donations to 4-year-old Xctasy Garcia. Until then, call the Schenectady Police Department Youth Aid Bureau at 382-5200, Ext. 5674, and leave a message. Police promise someone will respond to all messages by the end of the week.
A 4-year-old girl lies in the hospital, recovering from broken bones and chemical burns, while her mother and her mother's boyfriend sit behind bars.
"She couldn't open her eyes, she looked really nasty, like a monster...like a monster," says Zoraida Colon, who is credited with saving the little girl's life.
Colon says she saw the little girls horrific injuries when her mother, 26-year-old Delia Hernandez, brought her to her church, asking for prayer and healing.
"I told her she needed to take the girl to the hospital," Colon said. "She's not sick, something else happened to her. She said no, she fell down the stairs."
But police say the little girl was actually the victim of abuse at the hands of her mother's boyfriend. They allege that 25-year-old Jose J. Munoz was disciplining the child when he broke her arm and shoulder, and hours later poured bleach into her eyes.
"The baby couldn't open her eyes," says Colon. "She was crying, we told her we are going to take the baby to the hospital, we have to do something because this little girl needs treatment."
"My daughter didn't giver her any options or we (would) call the police," says Pastor Carlos Caraballo, who's family helped save the beaten girl.
"Every once in a while, this job teaches you new and unwanted lessons in human cruelty."
That miserable, wasted lump of molecules doesn't deserve to breathe the same air as the rest of the world. Hope he ROTS in prison.
If so, let's just capture this story as yet another reason not do desire to give Amnesty, Guest Worker or any other kind of status to these vermin. Send them back to Vicente and let the Mexican Gov't. pay for their criminal trials and incarceration, should Mexicans decide that those are not "desirable family values."
He only abused a child that legal citizens did not want to abuse...
25 years is not enough.
Life - no less.
Maybe a horrible name should be a stand-alone flag for a Child Protection investigation. (/sarc)
Dear Lord.
What miserable lowlife vermin (apologies to all vermin) could get his jollies from committing such horrific acts against a little 4 year old girl (the sweetest and most precious thing in the universe)?
I just can't stand this crap.
I hope there is a special God for these children. These poor kids do not stand a chance...Imagine a mother who names her child after a street drug. What a great start in life. May she and this 'boyfriend' have a wonderful time with their fellow inmates.
Not getting her drugs while she's in jail? Awwww.
The family is from Puerto Rico.
Where was mom?
Transient? Does that mean he is here illegally? If so this is one more crime that could have been prevented if our laws were enforced!
Let me get this straight...Social Services is paying to house a family (man unmarried to mother?) of 5 in a squalid hotel room.
But you can't get licensed as a foster or adoptive parent unless you can prove you have a bedroom for each child of a different sex, adequate bathroom and kitchen facilities...a refrigerator that cools to 40 degrees, etc etc etc etc.
The social workers who allow these children to stay with people like this... at taxpayer expense no less... will have to answer to God Himself someday.
I would fry him in oil slowly like a french fry.................BASTARD! He should be blinded for the rest of his short life in prison!.............
Hey Paul! Isn't New York a BLUE state?
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