In Illinois, Father Charged In Death of 4-Month-Old

Police on Friday night reportedly announced charges against the father of a 4-month-old girl who was apparently shaken to death.

Jonathan Ortiz, 23, has reportedly been charged with murder after reports from the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office and Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital determined that his daughter died from injuries sustained from child abuse, said South Chicago Heights Police Chief Bill Joyce.

Ortiz is reportedly scheduled to appear in bond court on Saturday, Joyce said.

Sophia Ortiz had reportedly been at a home in the 0-100 block of West 31st Street in South Chicago Heights on Monday before she was brought to the hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Police reportedly responded about 3 a.m. after the girl’s father called 911, saying the baby wasn’t breathing, Joyce said. The baby had been with her father at his home for approved visitation. The girl’s mother, who lives in Steger and has custody of the child, was not with them.

Responding paramedics were reportedly not able to detect the infant’s pulse and performed CPR all the way to St. James Hospital and Health Centers, Joyce said.

Staff there “did a remarkable job” and were able to get a pulse again, Joyce said, but she needed a respirator and was airlifted about two hours later to Advocate Hope Children’s Hospital at Christ Hospital.

Sophia, of the 0-100 block of 31st Street in Steger, was reportedly pronounced dead there at 8:55 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the medical examiner’s office.

An autopsy Wednesday reportedly found that the girl suffered multiple injuries from child abuse and her death has been ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Her injuries were reportedly consistent with shaken baby syndrome, Joyce said.

“There’s absolutely nothing that a beautiful 4-month-old baby girl could do that could merit any kind of abuse, not even abuse to this level,” the police chief said Wednesday night.

DCFS is reputedly investigating an allegation of death by abuse against the child’s father, agency spokesman Kendall Marlowe said. DCFS has had no previous investigations involving the girl’s father and he had no other children in his care, Marlowe said.

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