Elwood mother faces neglect charge in 11-month-old daughter’s death
ELWOOD, Ind. (WISH) — An Elwood woman is in jail in connection to her infant daughter’s Tuesday homicide.
Anna Maria Junette San Nicolas Pablo, 22, faces a preliminary charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. On Friday, she remained in the Madison County Detention Center, online records show.
The death of her 11-month-old daughter, Emmarie Pablo, on Friday was ruled a homicide. The cause of death was determined to be blunt force injuries to the head, strangulation and suffocation, according to the Madison County Coroner’s Office.
The investigation into the girl’s death began Tuesday, when Madison County Coroner Danielle Noone contacted the Elwood Police Department about a suspicious death.
Police responded to Anna Maria’s residence in the 2000 block of Main Street, while a detective went to St. Vincent Mercy Hospital, where Anna Maria was with her boyfriend, her boyfriend’s mother and the infant. The deceased infant was bleeding and bruises covered her entire body, the detective said in court documents.
Anna Maria told the detective she had taken Emmarie on Monday night to her uncle’s house in Lafayette for an overnight stay. She said her uncle called her at 5 a.m. Tuesday to say “the baby was fussy and to come get her,” so she and her boyfriend drove to Lafayette to get the girl.
When they picked up the infant, Anna Maria noticed bruises on the girl’s upper torso and asked her uncle what happened, as did her boyfriend, but her uncle did not answer, Anna Maria told the detective. Anna Maria and her boyfriend took the girl back to Elwood and put her down for a nap, according to court documents.
Anna Maria’s story changed substantially, according to court documents, as she explained her own knowledge of the infant’s bruising. She told the detective she did not see additional bruises on the girl until changing the girl’s diaper around 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.
When the infant woke up, she was fine for awhile and then Anna Maria noticed her “acting differently,” and later collapsed into the woman’s arms. She never called 911, she admitted to the detective, but instead had her boyfriend’s mother — who was already at the residence — look at the infant. She also did not take the infant for a medical evaluation, despite having a working vehicle, court documents say.
Anna Maria gave a number of explanations of what happened after the baby starting “acting differently,” including putting the girl in a child’s chair; in an adult bed; in the bath “to warm the child up because she was so cold”; or instead in multiple blankets, not a bath, the detective said in court documents.
A detective spoke with Anna Maria’s boyfriend’s mother, who said she was asked to come look at the baby. She said the infant was “white and extremely cold” and that she asked Anna Maria, “What the hell happened?” and Anna Maria told her, “She fell.” The woman said she told Anna Maria they had to go to the hospital and drove the infant immediately to St. Vincent Mercy, court documents say.
A detective spoke to Anna Maria’s boyfriend, who said he went to Lafayette with her but never went into her uncle’s house and never saw bruising on the infant. He said when they got home with the infant, her eye was swollen “as if it was poked,” but he saw no bruises. He told the detective he went outside to move items and did not know anything else about the infant’s injuries until his mother called him from the hospital, court documents say.
A 72-hour hold on filing formal charges will expire Tuesday, according to the Madison County Prosecutor’s Office.
