AUSTIN (KXAN) – A mother is in custody at the Travis County Jail facing child injury charges for the severe burns and fractured legs her 2-month-old son was treated for earlier this year.
22-year-old Amairani Jatsiri Gonzalez-Santamaria called police Feb. 11 claiming her son stopped breathing. The baby had to be flown in a STAR Flight helicopter to treat his severe burns at the University Hospital in San Antonio.
Doctors said he had burns over 26 percent of his body with serious injuries “highly consistent with abuse,” according to the affidavit. One nurse described his injuries to police as “near fatal.”
In a voluntary police interview, Gonzalez admitted to leaving her son in a sink for five to eight minutes as it filled with hot water while she took care of her other child, who is 2-years-old. The mother told police she was exhausted from parenting and resented that she didn’t have help with her children. A search of Gonzalez’ apartment on March 11, showed the sink water temperatures rose to 136 degrees after being on for at least 30 seconds.
A second police interview in April revealed that Gonzalez had become angry while changing her son’s diaper. In the affidavit she said the 2-month-old had a tendency to pull his knees up to his chest while she was changing him. Gonzalez told officers she was “overwhelmed” and “didn’t want to take care of him,” which led to her punching the baby in the stomach. She then admitted to pulling his legs “a little too hard.”
Gonzalez faces charges for injury to a child, which is a second degree felony.