Nye County Sheriff’s Office IDs 3-year-old killed in Pahrump
The Nye County Sheriff’s Office identified the 3-year-old killed Saturday in Pahrump as Yessenia Camp.
About 7:15 p.m. Saturday, police responded to calls about a child who had stopped breathing in a residence on the 5000 block of East Manse Street. When police arrived at the home, the child was unresponsive and the mother was performing CPR. The child, who police said had multiple bruises and other injuries, died on the way to Desert View Hospital.
In a statement Wednesday, the sheriff’s office said an autopsy identified the preliminary cause of death as blunt-force trauma to the head.
Detectives who responded to the residence learned the child was alone with the mother’s boyfriend, 38-year-old Cole Engelson, before the death. Engelson told police he was responsible for the child’s death but provided limited details on the cause of death and his motives.
The sheriff’s office said that during the autopsy, the medical examiner found no evidence of a sexual assault; determined the child’s bruises were recent and could have all been made Saturday; and had no cause to believe the child’s mother committed any crime.
Engelson was taken into custody and booked at Nye County Detention Center on charges of domestic violence, child abuse with substantial bodily harm resulting in death, and open murder.
An arrest report shows Engelson told police he had been drinking and did not remember what had happened. He first told police the child was unresponsive in the shower, then said he noticed the child had gone limp while he was drying her. He said he’d had a bad day because he worked all night and had been drinking throughout the day, the report said.
Cole was consistent only in saying he couldn’t remember what happened to the child, the report said.
The girl’s mother told police Cole might have been on methamphetamine and that he is an alcoholic. She was not home when the incident occurred.
The sheriff’s office said the mother has continued to cooperate with police and the investigation.
Contact Matthew Crowley at mcrowley@reviewjournal.com. Follow @copyjockey on Twitter.
