BRIANNA MEDRANO - 17 Months -(2010) Omaha NE

A 30-year-old Omaha woman was arrested in connection with the death of a 17-month-old girl she had been baby-sitting.Brianna A. Medrano died July 10 after her parents dropped her off at the home of her baby-sitter, Keny Y. Medrano-Cambara.The two are distantly related.
Keny Y. Medrano-Cambara

The
girl became ill at Medrano-Cambara's and was taken to Creighton
University Medical Center and then to Children's Hospital & Medical
Center where she was taken off life support.According to an affidavit, an autopsy was done on Brianna and was found to have brain injuries caused by blunt force trauma.Police
interviewed Medrano-Cambara on July 11 who denied she injured Brianna
and said she tried calling the girl's parents numerous times and sent
them text messages to tell them about her condition.Medrano-Cambara
said the girl started gagging and vomiting about 12:30 p.m. Both
parents told police she had behaved normally and had not been sick prior
to the being dropped off at Medrano-Cambara's apartment, 1320 S. 29th
St. No. 5, about 7:30 a.m.Medrano-Cambara was arrested on a
warrant Friday charging her with committing felony child abuse causing
death. She has not yet made her first court appearance.
http://www.omaha.com/article/20110221/NEWS97/702229967/629

Updated: 4:37 PM Feb 22, 2011
Update: Babysitter Charged in Death, Denied Bond
A babysitter accused of killing a child in her care, made her first appearance in court Tuesday. Keny Medrano-Cambara is held without bond for charges of Child Abuse Resulting in Death.


In July, 16-month-old Brianna Medrano, a distant relative of the suspect, was taken to Children's Hospital and Medical Center. She was diagnosed with Shaken Baby Syndrome because of severe retinal bleeding.

More than 8 months later, her babysitter is behind bars for the injuries she allegedly inflicted on Brianna, which led to her death.

At the Douglas County Jail Tuesday, family members of 30-year-old Medrano-Cambara filed out of the courtroom. One of the relatives broke down when he saw her brought in to the room in handcuffs.

"I caution you not to jump to conclusions because my client is innocent until proven guilty," said Bassel El-Kasaby, Medrano-Cambara's defense attorney. "I believe that there will be further proceedings and the truth about what happened to that child will come out."

Prosecutors say the truth is that Medrano-Cambara intentionally shook the 16-month old baby, causing blunt force trauma to her head.

Brianna Medrano was taken to the suspect's apartment near 29th and Woolworth on July 8, 2010, to be watched for the day. When her mother picked her up, she was unresponsive, vomiting, and moaning. Her mother rushed her to the hospital where she was not breathing. She was taken off life support the following day.

"There isn't any question that the baby was perfectly fine when she was dropped off," said Chief Deputy County Attorney Brenda Beadle. "I think the suspect made statements to that affect as well, she was fine during the morning, for most of the morning until later when there started to be issues."

Prosecutors asked the judge to deny bond. She agreed.

"This is not unusual in a case like this, when the allegations are so serious," said El-Kasaby. "We haven't yet had a chance to present our case."

"They're all horribly tragic cases, especially when we're talking about a human being so little, who can't defend themselves and can't speak for themselves obviously afterward," said Beadle.

The County Attorney's office says it took this long to make the arrest, because they were waiting for medical evidence. They say they have proof that Brianna's injuries could only have happened while she was in the care of Medrano-Cambara, and no one else.

Medrano-Cambara will be back in court on March 15 for a preliminary hearing. She is charged with Intentional Child Abuse Resulting in Death. If convicted she would face 40 years to life in prison.

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/116688059.html?storySection=story

Published Tuesday March 15, 2011
Sitter to stand trial

Doctors believe that the death of an Omaha toddler last summer was not accidental and may have been the result of shaken-baby syndrome, according to testimony Tuesday from an Omaha police detective.
Brianna A. Medrano, who was just short of 17 months old, died days after becoming ill at her babysitter's apartment.
The sitter, Keny Y. Medrano-Cambara, 30, was ordered to stand trial on a charge of felony child abuse causing death. She has denied the allegation. — Jason Kuiper

http://www.inspiredhomeomaha.com/article/20110315/NEWS97/703169922/0

Baby Sitter Acquitted In Toddler's Death

OMAHA, Neb. -

An Omaha baby sitter has been found not guilty in connection with the death of a toddler she was watching.

Douglas County District Judge Mark Ashford delivered the verdict in the bench trial on Friday morning.
Keny Medrano-Cambara was watching Briana Medrano, her cousin's daughter, before the toddler died at a hospital in July 2010.
Prosecutors said Briana was not responsive and vomiting when her mother picked her up.
An
autopsy found that the 16-month-old died from blunt force trauma, but
prosecutors were unable to prove the little girl's death was not an
accident.
Ashford cited disagreement on whether the injury was intentional and other unanswered questions in his ruling.

Her lawyer, Michael Nelson, said he believed in his client's innocence all along.
"She has been in
custody for something she didn't do for over a year and one of the
greatest things now is she can come home to her family," Nelson said.
After an immigration hearing next week, Nelson said Medrano-Cambara will return to her husband and three children.
The baby's parents were not in court. Briana Medrano would have turned 3 years old last month.
http://www.ketv.com/Baby-Sitter-Acquitted-In-Toddler-s-Death/-/9675214/11669888/-/item/0/-/wm0va5/-/index.html

Ashford said police never went to Medrano-Cambara's home to search for evidence.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said he's disappointed in the outcome, but he's not sure a search would have helped.
"I don't know that there would have been anything they would have been able to find that was significant," Kleine said.
Family members and Medrano-Cambara shed tears in court Friday.