Monroe man suspected of murder in 2-year-old’s death
Published 11:27 am Wednesday, August 12, 2026
EVERETT — A Monroe man is suspected of murder after a 2-year-old girl’s death last December.
Deputies arrested Samuel Adonis Cardoza Menjivar, 27, on Tuesday night, more than nine months after first responders were called to a home in Snohomish for reports of an unresponsive child, according to a release from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
A 2-year-old child was found unconscious with bruising around her eye, forehead and behind her ears, on the morning of Dec. 1, 2025, a police report said. EMTs performed CPR for about 40 minutes before the girl was taken to Providence Regional Medical Center Everett. The child died at Seattle Children’s Hospital on Dec. 7, the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies learned Cardoza Menjivar was watching the 2-year-old child and her 5-year-old brother at the time of the incident, court documents said. The man reportedly told investigators the younger child had fallen in the bathroom and hit her head, the sheriff’s office said.
Hospital staff told investigators the 2-year-old’s injuries were extensive, severe and not consistent with an accidental head injury, a police report said.
In March, the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the child’s cause of death was blunt head trauma and the manner of death was homicide, court documents said.
During the investigation, deputies learned the 5-year-old boy also had injuries to his neck and arms, the sheriff’s office said.
Cardoza Menjivar was in a dating relationship with the children’s mother at the time of the incidents, deputies said.
The sheriff’s office said its Violent Offender Task Force arrested Cardoza Menjivar on Tuesday night at a motel in Monroe. He was booked into the Snohomish County Jail on suspicion of second-degree murder and second-degree assault of a child.
He is expected in court for an initial arraignment at 1 p.m. Wednesday, online court records said.
Ian Davis-Leonard: 425-339-3097; ian.davis-leonard@heraldnet.com
