JULIANA KLOBUCAR - 5 Months -(2010) Merrillville (S of Gary) IN

A 5-month-old baby girl from Indiana died Saturday from child abuse, an autopsy has determined.

Juliana Klobucar, 5 months, of Merrillville, Ind., was pronounced
dead at 2:13 a.m. Saturday at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospitals at 2:13 a.m.,
according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Juliana suffered head trauma at her home and an autopsy performed
Sunday determined she died of a subdural hematoma and child abuse. Her
death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

A spokesman for the Merrillville police department did not have any information immediately.

i just dont inderstand how anyone could hurt an innocent child...regardless of age!!! i have a four and a half month old little girl and i dont know what id do if...omg i cant even think about it. Just infuriates me...poor poor babies who never stood a chance!!! never had a chance to grow up...

Nelson Santiago Charged with Murder of Baby Daughter in Merrillville
Tuesday, 10 Aug 2010
Crown Point, Ind. - The father of a 5-month-old northwest Indiana girl who died Saturday from shaken baby syndrome has been charged with murder, Lake County authorities said Tuesday.

Juliana Klobucar of 395 W. 77th Pl. in Merrillville was pronounced dead at 2:13 a.m. Saturday at the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office.

Juliana suffered head trauma at her home and an autopsy performed Sunday determined she died of a subdural hematoma caused by child abuse. Her death was ruled a homicide, according to the medical examiner’s office.

Nelson J. Santiago, 20, the girl's father, was charged Aug. 3 with neglect of a dependent, battery and aggravated battery after Juliana was taken to a hospital suffering seizures on July 28.

The charges were amended Tuesday to include murder and he was ordered held without bond, according to prosecutor's office spokeswoman Diane Poulton. An initial hearing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Santiago called paramedics about 7 p.m. on July 28 and said he was unable to wake the child up, and that she was pale and warm, according to the probably cause affidavit. Juliana was taken to Methodist Hospitals Southlake Campus in Merrillville.

She was later airlifted to the University of Chicago Medical Center after a CT scan showed an injury to her brain. A doctor at the U of C later told police the injuries were consistent with shaken baby syndrome, the affidavit states, and there was not other way she could have suffered such violent head trauma.

The affidavit states Santiago asked a paramedic who responded to the scene, "If I tickled her too hard, would that have caused this?"

The girl's mother, Ann Klobucar, said she left for work in south suburban Ford Heights at 2 p.m. that day, taking her 17-month-old son to day care and leaving Santiago with Juliana.

She said he was "a good father" who had never done anything to hurt the children and could "absolutely not" hurt their daughter, the affidavit states. But she said she grew concerned when he texted her that evening asking if the children had insurance.

Ann Klobucar's sister, however, told investigators that Santiago never seemed overly concerned for Juliana's welfare, and left the hospital early on July 29 to go partying with friends, the affidavit states.

She said she became alarmed when she saw a post on his Facebook page that night saying, "Folks this my might very well b my last nite 2 breath FREE AIR..."

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/nelson-santiago-murder--juliana-klobucar-shaken-baby-syndrome-merrillville-20100810

Merrillville man found guilty of neglect, not murder, in baby’s death

By Ruth Ann Krause Post-Tribune correspondent March 26, 2012 4:52PM

Santiago

Updated: March 27, 2012 9:50AM


Lake Superior Court jurors convicted a Merrillville man of neglect of a dependent in the death of his infant daughter, but acquitted him of a murder charge.


After about eight hours of deliberations, jurors also deadlocked on battery and aggravated battery charges against Nelson Julian Santiago, who faces from 20 to 50 years at his May 4 sentencing hearing before Judge Diane Ross Boswell.

Prosecutors argued that Santiago intentionally killed 5-month-old Juliana Klobucar by violently shaking her, while the defense countered with its own expert who raised other scenarios to the state’s shaken baby syndrome.

In his closing argument, deputy prosecutor Michael Woods said Juliana beat the odds after being born about seven weeks’ premature, but died a violent death at the hands of her father for whom she was named.

Woods reminded the eight-woman, four-man jury of testimony that Santiago, 21, was disappointed that his then-girlfriend was pregnant with a girl and asked her to give up the child for adoption. Santiago didn’t put his name on the birth certificate and had lived with the child’s mother, Ann Marie Klobucar, their young son and Juliana for about a week before the baby’s suffered a subdural hematoma, brain swelling and retinal hemorrhaging on July 28, 2010.

Klobucar said she received a text from Santiago asking whether the children had insurance. When she called him, she learned that something was wrong with the baby, who was airlifted to the University of Chicago Comer Children’s Hospital.
Comer authorities and the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office ruled the case was child abuse.

Defense expert Jan Leetsma suggested the child had suffered a bleeding episode on the brain from an earlier injury that could have started bleeding anew or that the child could have a blood clotting abnormality inherited from her mother.

In his closing argument, defense attorney Matthew LaTulip criticized the state’s medical witnesses for failing to look at prior medical history, including the fact the child had been strapped in a car seat when her mother totaled her car in a crash two months before the baby was injured.

As little Juliana continued to suffer severe seizures in a Chicago hospital bed, Woods argued that Santiago headed out to celebrate his birthday with friends, according to a post on Facebook introduced as evidence. “On my way 2 bdubs 2 smash N chillax with my peoples. Folks this my might very well b my last nite 2 breath FREE AIR so I’m gonna make the best of it N hopeful all my peoples show up,” the post states.

Jurors also heard Santiago’s statement to police in which he asked if tickling the child too hard could have caused the injuries. LaTulip told jurors Santiago was “a typical parent trying to figure out what happened to his baby.”


http://posttrib.suntimes.com/news/lake/11491235-418/jury-deliberating-in-merrillville-childs-death-case.html#.U_7yk1eD-Gw