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Baby-sitter killed infant: DA

Baby-sitter killed infant: DA
By Rebecca Henely

Addison Reinoso-Xoyatla, the 3-month-old baby who sustained brain damage two days after the snowstorm and who was originally reported to have been injured because of slow ambulance response, may have actually been hurt after his baby-sitter shook him, the Queens district attorney’s office said.

Ana Delarosa, 26, the baby-sitter, was arraigned Saturday and held without bail after the DA charged her with second-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the DA’s office.

On Friday, the police arrested Delarosa who lives at 39th Avenue and 104th Street in Corona.

Addison was taken off life support last week and died Jan. 5, police said.

“In severe and fatal cases of abusive head trauma, symptoms are unfortunately immediate and oftentimes irreversible. We expect that the medical evidence will show that the death of this child occurred because the brain was severely damaged by shaking, not by any purported delay in reaching him,” Queens DA Richard Brown said in a statement.

Delarosa, a friend of the Reinoso family, was baby-sitting Addison when sometime after 11 a.m. Dec. 29. Addison woke up and began crying, the DA said. Delarosa tried to console him at first, but when he would not stop crying, repeatedly shook him hard, the DA said.

“What is wrong with you?” Delarosa allegedly asked. “Why are you crying?”

After Delarosa allegedly shook him, Addison stopped crying and fell limp, the DA said. Delarosa then sought help, the DA said.

A 911 call to help Addison came in at 1:12 p.m., and while EMS from Flushing Hospital arrived at 1:25 p.m., the ambulance taking him to the hospital became stuck at Layton Street and Baxter Avenue in the snow that had been left from the Dec. 26 and Dec. 27 snowstorm, the Fire Department said. Paramedics had to run with Addison to get him to Elmhurst Hospital Center, the FDNY said, but when they arrived, they found Addison had become brain dead.

The DA said an examination of the child at Elmhurst Hospital found the baby had severe brain injury and was bleeding around the nerves that connect the eyes to the brain, leading them to conclude he had suffered from shaken baby syndrome, a form of child abuse.

Delarosa was awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court and faces up to 25 years to life in prison if convicted, the DA said.

“The fragility of a small child cannot be emphasized enough,” Brown said. “There is no excuse for shaking a child.”

Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.