El Campo babysitter charged with capital murder of baby
EL CAMPO, Texas - A Wharton County woman has posted bail after police charged her with the capital murder of a 19-month-old baby girl.
El Campo Police told FOX 26 that Angel Castro, 26, was babysitting a one-year-old baby girl when the baby apparently fell and died.
After being booked in jail on a $500,000 bond, police say she bonded out over the weekend.
"Our dispatch center received a 911 call from a lady indicating that she was in medical need," said Cpl. Mark Biskup with El Campo Police.
Biskup told FOX 26 baby Roselynn Coates died within hours of the 911 call at the home on Way Street in El Campo on January 19.
The baby’s photo is shown on the Kilpatrick Funeral Home website, which announced her funeral took place Sunday in Farmerville, Louisiana where her mother lives.
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"She did sustain a head injury that was visible to officers when they got there," said Biskup.
Police say Castro had been babysitting the baby since October, while her mom was working in Texas. Police say Castro told officers she was in the kitchen when Roselyn fell from a piece of furniture in the living room and hit a toy on her way down.
Police say after the autopsy, they did not believe the baby’s death was an accident.
"I can’t release the details of it, but what I can tell you is that she had suffered major internal injuries that raised suspicion as to the cause of death, and what the babysitter had claimed just didn’t match," said Biskup.
A capital murder charge can carry a life sentence without parole or the death penalty.
Police are not saying the babysitter killed the child; just that the child died in her care.
"The babysitter was in the kitchen, to my knowledge, and the child was in another room," said Biskup. "The babysitter was in charge of the child when the child became injured, and as a result of that and the result of the autopsy, what the investigators felt is that capital murder of a child younger than ten years of age was the proper charge."
The Fort Bend County Medical Examiner’s Office told FOX 26 they conducted the autopsy on baby Roselynn Coates. They said autopsy results will not be public for another eight weeks, as they await toxicology results.