Parents charged in death of 4-month-old baby boy; police say mom scratched, struck child

A man and woman are facing child neglect/homicide charges in the death of their 4-month-old baby boy.

According to The Associated Press, Unified police arrested Jessica Lujan, 20, and Jose Ramirez, 21, on Friday afternoon after their infant son was found dead in a Midvale, Utah, motel room.

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Lujan told police that the baby had been screaming as she argued with Ramirez, KUTV reported. She said she became enraged, struck the boy "several times" and used her fingernails to scratch him, according to court documents. She then "placed the child into his car seat, upside-down" before she went to bed, court documents said.

BREAKING: @UPDSL investigating the death of an infant at the @motel6 in #Midvale. LINK: https://t.co/FyG03a6F0Y We’ll be live on @KUTV2News at 4. pic.twitter.com/yXgHMf5JPD
— Jeremy Harris (@JeremyHarrisTV) January 25, 2019

Ramirez told police that he and the baby eventually fell asleep, KUTV reported. When Ramirez woke up, the boy was not breathing, he said.

"He did not call 911 despite having several options for doing so to get help for the now unresponsive child," court documents said, according to the TV station.

After Ramirez attempted to give the child CPR, Lujan called 911, put down the phone without speaking and walked out of their room, police said. Ramirez grabbed the phone and spoke to dispatchers, KUTV reported.