"Baby" HERNANDEZ-PEREZ - 5 months - Lodi CA

Two Lodi residents were indicted for child abuse Wednesday after their
5-month-old son suffered injuries that required him to be taken by a
Life Flight helicopter to Oakland Children's Hospital. The couple are
being held on $200,000 bail.

Yuribel
Mendoza Hernandez, 22, and Jose Isaier Perez, 24, took their son to the
Ham Lane Urgent Care Clinic on July 8 and said their child had fallen
out of a baby swing, according to Detective Eric Bradley, of the Lodi
Police Department



The couple lives in the 400 block of East Oak Street. The couple is not
married and has been together for a little more than two years, Bradley
said.

The
staff thought the infant may have contracted meningitis, because he
couldn't move his neck, so they transferred him to Lodi Memorial
Hospital. The Lodi Memorial Hospital staff re-examined the child and
determined the child may have been a victim of physical abuse.

He
was transferred to Oakland Children's Hospital on July 10 after Lodi
Memorial Hospital staff determined he may have life-threatening head
injuries. It was at Oakland Children's Hospital that staff learned that
the child had sustained a fractured rib and femur, as well as a skull
fracture and retinal hemorrhaging.



The child and his 2-year-old sister are in protective custody with
Child Protective Services. Bradley said Hernandez and Perez have no
prior convictions in California, and that the boy's sister does not
have any injuries that indicate she was a victim of abuse. Perez and
Hernandez are the biological parents of the 2-year-old girl as well.

Lodi
Police Detectives took their findings to the San Joaquin County
District Attorney's office. The DA's Office convened a Grand Jury on
Monday that concluded with an indictment for Perez and Hernandez on
Wednesday.

Hernandez and Perez are each facing three total
counts of infliction of bodily injury, child endangerment and corporal
injury to a child. They will be arraigned today at the Stockton
Courthouse.

Bradley said the child has been released from the
hospital and is in protective custody. He said it is unclear if the
child will suffer long-term damage from his injuries. Bradley said he
would not speculate as to the nature of how the child was injured. No
illegal weapons were found on the couple's property during a search.