Sentenced: Wolfforth Man Charged, Accused Of Shaking His 3MO Baby To Death

[Sugar Cookie]

Wolfforth father is charged with aggravated assault after his three-month-old child died at the hospital.

Police were called to UMC early Monday morning for a child who was about to pass away.

On Sunday night, Lubbock County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a medical call in Wolfforth where 24-year-old Joey Ortega Jr. was caring for the 3-month-old. When deputies arrived, the child was in cardiac arrest and was taken to UMC, according to an arrest warrant.

A doctor found the baby had injuries to his head and chest and was suffering from a brain bleed and retinal hemorrhaging, consistent with someone shaking the baby. The child also had healed rib fractures on his left side, according to the report.

Ortega told police he was watching his son and daughter while the mother was away at work. He told investigators he laid the child down in his bassinet with a bottle and 10 minutes later returned to check on him and found him unresponsive. Ortega described the child was “gasping for breath but could still feel his heart beating” and called 911.

At first Ortega denied harming the child but, “when told specifically [the child] had injuries not consistent with natural causes he stated he had hugged [him] hard when he was crying,” the warrant states. He described to investigators shaking the child out of frustration.

Wolfforth man charged, accused of shaking 3-month-old baby

A Wolfforth father is charged with aggravated assault after his three-month-old child died at the hospital.

www.kcbd.com

 

[MildlyMedicated]

Okay we will need an industrial shaker thingy, a razor blade, and some salt.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A 25-year-old man was sentenced Friday morning to 50 years in prison for killing his 3-month-old son by shaking him more than a year ago.

Joey Benito Ortega Jr., admitted to causing the severe injuries that hospitalized his son, Benjamin.

Prosecutor Barron Slack said the victim's family was pleased with the outcome of the case.

"They're very happy with the legal resul,t especially without having to go to trial and just go through that ... It's very sad, but I think they were very pleased with the result, we are too," he said.

Ortega will have to serve half of his sentence before he is eligible for parole.

Slack said he expects Ortega will likely serve more than half of his sentence before he is considered for parole.

"We don't see eligibility resulting in parole at the first time or soon," he said. "I would expect he's going to do decades, three or more decades in prison, at least then we'll just see. It'll be in the parole board's hands now."

Ortega initially denied hurting his son or knowing anything about how he was injured.

The detective told Ortega that the boy's injuries were inconsistent with natural causes and Ortega reportedly tried to explain the injuries as a result of hugging his son too hard while trying to soothe him.

However, Ortega became emotional and reportedly told the detective that he didn't intentionally harm his son, saying he became frustrated with the boy and shook him.

He showed the detective how he held his son under his arms and shaking him, the warrant states.

Slack said after the hearing that based on the investigation and Ortega's statements to police, his actions did appear to be driven by a momentary loss of self-control.

"Parenting can be difficult sometimes and others, I think people that maybe they're young or they're just don't have the control over their temper or anger, it seems to be that the injuries that led to this were severe, were immediate, kind of a one time deal, I believe is what the fatality was," he said.

However, Slack said the 50-year sentence was the appropriate punishment for Ortega's actions that night, which he described as intentional.

"Even in a moment of anger, it doesn't suspend your knowledge of how fragile the child is," he said. "It doesn't excuse it lawfully. Whether you were cold and calculated when you harm a 3-month-old or whether it is an intentional action but that flows out of anger or frustration. We'll probably never exactly how the injuries were affected or exactly the mental state of the person, but from some of the things in his statement, and his age, you may suspect that he lost control and harmed a child in an egregious way."

Wolfforth man accepts 50-year sentence in infant son's shaking death

Joey Benito Ortega Jr. pleaded guilty in connection with his son's 2021 shaking death in exchange for a 50-year prison sentence

www.lubbockonline.com