Las Vegas man accused in death of 4-month-old daughter
A 24-year-old man is accused of murder in the death of his 4-month-old daughter, records show.
Prosecutors on Tuesday charged Victor Tarin Sanchez of Las Vegas with first-degree murder.
The infant, Arlette Sanchez, died on March 31 at University Medical Center, where she was taken a day earlier after she was found not breathing, police said. Arlette’s cause and manner of death were pending with the Clark County coroner’s office on Friday.
Doctors and police determined Sanchez’s explanation for Arlette’s injuries — he pressed against her abdomen and gently shook her in a panic to stop her from choking — didn’t match the severity of her injuries, an arrest report said.
Her brain injuries were “catastrophic,” the report said.
Her mother told police that she left Arlette in Sanchez’s care about 11 p.m. March 29 while she went to the store. She received a call from him telling her to come home right away because there was something wrong with the baby.
The mother suggested calling 911, but Sanchez told her to wait, according to the report. She called anyway.
Sanchez used a doll to demonstrate to police how he said he shook her, “gently in a back and forth motion,” the report said.
Arlette’s mother said a similar incident happened about a month earlier when the baby was in his care. Sanchez called her to report the child was choking, and he made the baby throw up by pressing on her stomach and chest, the report said. The baby continued to vomit a few days after the incident, but their pediatrician determined the baby had the flu, the report said.
Sanchez also faces a count of domestic battery in a separate incident from Dec. 30, court records show. He is being held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center.
Arlette’s death marked the 54th homicide investigated by Metro this year, and the department’s fourth child death investigation, according to Las Vegas Review-Journal records.
Contact Mike Shoro at mshoro@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5290. Follow @mike_shoro on Twitter. Review-Journal staff writer Rio Lacanlale contributed to this report.
