IREDELL COUNTY, N.C. — A Statesville woman has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of her 4-month-old son.
On June 27, Iredell County deputies were called to Davis Regional Medical Center in Statesville after an unresponsive baby was taken to the emergency room. Deputies were told the child was in critical condition at that time.
A CAT scan revealed that the child suffered a serious head injury. He was flown to a hospital in Winston-Salem for further treatment. During the investigation, detectives learned that the child's father came home from work and found the baby breathing but unresponsive. The child's mother, identified as 34-year-old Erika Renee Altamirano, was asleep in the bed with the baby.
The father immediately called for help and took the baby to the hospital. Detectives interviewed Altamirano and other family members and no one claimed to know how the child was injured.
Deputies executed a search warrant at the family's home and found an empty liquor bottle in a trash can. Altamirano admitted she had been drinking that day and could not remember what happened to the baby. She bought the alcohol at an ABC store earlier that day, police allege.
Doctors said the child suffered a significant skull fracture that was life-threatening and wasn't accidental. The child died on July 4 as a result of his injuries. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma.
Altamirano was charged with second-degree murder and felony child abuse. She is being held in the Iredell County Jail on a $500,000 bond.