A 2-year-old boy whose air supply allegedly was cut off by his father in December 2002 died early Friday, opening the door to possible murder charges against the father, prosecutors said.
The Snohomish Country medical examiner on Monday will conduct an autopsy of the body of Lujan Venegas, who had been in a foster home in Anacortes, deputy prosecutor Craig Matheson said.
"This was a fairly predictable end, given the neurological devastation" when the boy was deprived of oxygen for an extended period, Matheson said.
Now charged with first-degree assault of a child is Bernie Bernabe Venegas, 41, of Everett. The child was 11 months old at the time paramedics were summoned to Bernabe’s south Everett home on a call that a baby had stopped breathing.
"If the autopsy shows the death is related to an assault by him, yeah, you bet" the prosecutor will file murder charges, Matheson said.
Prosecutors allege Venegas tried to stop the boy’s crying by covering his mouth and nose with his hand. The child suffered severe brain damage from lack of oxygen. Doctors also discovered broken ribs and fractures of one of the baby’s legs and a wrist, court documents said.
Venegas was jailed but has spent most of the time since his arrest at Western State Hospital in Steilacoom, where doctors are trying to make him competent to assist in his own defense when he stands trial, Matheson said.
He suffers from a psychotic disorder and has in the past refused medication, Matheson said. In January, Venegas was ordered by the court to spend six months at Western undergoing treatment. If necessary, the order said, doctors can force him to take medication.
In the past, state experts have found it difficult to interview Venegas, partly because his speech is "filled with words that were either misused or were so overly elaborate that it was often not possible to comprehend what he was saying," court documents said.
If Venegas is judged competent to stand trial, Matheson said he expects defense lawyers to seek a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Even with that verdict, Venegas would be treated in a secure facility until doctors determine he is no longer a danger to himself or others, and that could be a long time, Matheson said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or haley@heraldnet.com.
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