An Albuquerque couple have been charged in the beating to death of a 3-month-old girl and the alleged whipping of a 4-year-old boy with a belt.
Investigators said the infant’s injuries, including head trauma, were so severe she was hospitalized Monday in critical condition. Albuquerque police, who suspect the girl, identified as Mika Castillo, also had been exposed to narcotics, said Thursday she had died.
Johnathan Castillo, 23, faces two charges of child abuse and aggravated battery against a household member, and Jessica Brusuelas, 26, faces charges of child abuse and failure to report child abuse. Both have been arrested and are held in the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Detention Center.
As of late Thursday afternoon, neither parent’s charges had been updated to reflect the death of the girl, according to online court records. However, Albuquerque police spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said detectives would work with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office in Bernalillo County to upgrade the couple’s charges.
The couple dialed 911 Monday afternoon after they said Mika fell off a couch, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court. First responders arrived to find the baby unresponsive and rushed her to the hospital after Castillo shut them out of the apartment, the complaint states.
Hospital personnel told Albuquerque police the girl had “multiple brain hemorrhages in different stages of healing, a fractured skull, and bruising to her head.”
Police wrote in the complaint Mika “was in critical condition and not expected to survive the night.” Gallegos had written in an email Wednesday the baby was still alive at that time.
The boy was placed in the custody of the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department, police said in a news release.
According to the criminal complaint, Brusuelas told police she saw Castillo spank Mika, hit her mouth and face with an open hand, and hit her head with a closed fist Sunday.
She said Castillo also hit the girl to get her to calm down while bottle feeding her early Monday morning. She alleged he had hit Mika for the first time when she was 2 months old, the complaint states. When Albuquerque police noticed patterned bruising on the Brusuelas’ son’s back and bruising under her own eye, she alleged Castillo spanks the boy with his hand and a belt and punches her.
He strangled her at least once, she added, according to the complaint.
Albuquerque police noted in a news release Castillo is suspected of using fentanyl and methamphetamine, and alleged Mika had been exposed to narcotics.
The Children, Youth and Families Department previously had two investigations involving the boy and one involving the infant, with the latter being the most recent, spokesperson Jake Thompson said. In that instance, hospital staff expressed concerns Brusuelas was not visiting Mika often enough after she was born premature — though she was not born substance-exposed, Thompson noted.
Brusuelas was found to be having transportation issues, hindering her ability to visit her daughter, and Mika was ultimately sent home.
“Cases like this are heartbreaking beyond measure,” Thompson added in an email Wednesday. “CYFD is working with law enforcement and all relevant authorities to ensure the children in this case receive the care and protection they need.”
