UPDATE 5:17 P.M.: His arraignment has been postponed until August 18, so he did not enter a plea. He is being held without bail. REDWOOD CITY (BCN) — Redwood City resident Daniel Contreras, 27, will make his initial appearance in court Tuesday on charges of murder, felony child abuse leading to the death of a child and multiple counts of lewd acts involving a child.
Contreras is being charged in connection with the death of 17-month-old Evelyn Castillo, who was found unconscious and not breathing on Thursday while in his care. He is scheduled to appear at 1:30 p.m. on the Custody Calendar in Courtroom 4A at the Hall of Justice, 400 County Center, Redwood City.
Evelyn Castillo was found unconscious and unresponsive in an apartment in the 400 block of Madison Avenue around 2:30 p.m. Thursday after police and medics were called to the scene. She was taken to Kaiser Permanente’s Redwood City Medical Center but died a short time later, according to police. Contreras, who was dating Evelyn’s mother, had been caring for the toddler at the time of her death, according to prosecutors.
He told authorities that the child fell accidentally from a table. He was arrested early Saturday after an autopsy on Friday determined the death was a homicide. Wagstaffe noted that several of the charges against Contreras carry the potential for life imprisonment or, in the case of the murder charge, the death penalty.