Man pleads guilty to manslaughter in death of infant


Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 1:10 PM MDT


Sentencing is scheduled for September 30 for a man accused of killing a newborn because the infant was interrupting his video game.


He plead guilty  pleaded guilty to man-slaughter in Pima Superior Court.

Rene Edward Barrios, 26,  can  be sentenced to somewhere between 10.5 and 21 years in prison next month by Pima County Superior Court Judge Richard Fields.

Barrios was living with the mother of 18-day-old Jaden Encinas on Oct. 26, 2007, when she left their apartment to run errands. She told police the baby was sleeping on their bed when she left, according to court documents.

Both barrios and the mother of the victim are both formerly of Douglas.

The prosecution said that when the baby started to cry, Barrios paused his “assault-like” video game, went into the bedroom, shook the newborn and hit him in the head.

“Defendant’s goal was to silence Jaden. He wanted the infant to stop crying so he could play his game. The impact was massive and global,” Deputy Pima County Attorney Kristen Kelly wrote in court documents.

Following the incident, the baby was left along for the next five to ten minutes while Barrios finished his video game.

When he returned, the baby was blue and that is when he called 9-1-1.At the time of Barrios’ arrest, Tucson police said the newborn wasn’t breathing when firefighters arrived at the apartment in the 5500 block of East 26th Street, near East 22nd Street and South Craycroft Road.

When paramedics arrived, they further attempted to give the child CPR. At one point they managed to catch a heartbeat.

The baby was transported to Tucson Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy showed the baby died of sudden infant death syndrome or of asphyxia.

Members of the Encinas and Barrios families exchanged words as Barrios was taken out of the courtroom crying and in handcuffs.

Copyright © 2012 Douglas Dispatch

Comments

    Anonymous wrote on Sep 20, 2008 3:02 AM:

    " All the facts in this story are already in, the defendant has already admitted to what he's done and pleaded guilty. No need in trying to hide the obvious, this man took an innocent newborns life and will now have to take responsibility for that. Manslaughter is just a slap on the wrist for what he has done. "

    Losing Hope wrote on Sep 20, 2008 12:28 AM:

    " I don't know anything about this tragedy but I would like to find out more. Suggestion to the "Daily Dispatch" Create a chat room or an expanded message board at your site so that readers have a platform on which we can discuss items that appear in the Dispatch. "

    DNT BELIEVE wrote on Sep 18, 2008 2:54 PM:

    " ITS AMAZING HOW SOMEONE CAN WRITE A STORY ABOUT THIS WITHOUT THE FACTS. DONT BELIEVE WHAT YOU READ.GET THE WHOLE STORY FIRST. THIS SHOULDNT EVEN BE OPEN FOR DISCUSSION. "

    reader wrote on Sep 18, 2008 11:42 AM:

    " might want to check grammar, spelling and punctuation in this article....hmmm... "

    Over watcher wrote on Sep 17, 2008 10:50 PM:

    " I hope he is weeded out in prison. "

    jackie wrote on Sep 17, 2008 2:07 PM:

    " Jaden DID NOT die of sudden infant death syndrome. Can you please make a correction! "

    Anonymous wrote on Sep 17, 2008 1:51 PM:

    " Some of the facts of this story are incorrect. The child died of blunt force trauma to the head due to the shaking and striking the child on the head. The mother of the child also lost her 1st child to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in 2005. "

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