DIEGO CALLES - 4 yo - Santa Maria CA

Medical examiner testifies about child's injuries

Bruises covered the young boy like chickenpox. The graphic images of the nude and battered body of a 4-year-old boy who allegedly was beaten to death by his mother's former boyfriend were too much for some who loved him to take - and they left the Santa Maria courtroom where trial was taking place Tuesday for his alleged killer. However, the Superior Court jury hearing evidence against James Lujan of Lompoc had no choice but to look at the photos of Diego Calles projected onto a large screen. Dr. Janice Frank, assistant chief medical examiner for Ventura County, who performed the autopsy on Diego, testified Tuesday that the bruises and cuts all over the boy's body were likely inflicted over the course of several days, and that he ultimately died from blunt force abdominal injuries. Lujan, 30, is accused of physically abusing Diego, the son of his then-girlfriend Meagan Davis, for several days before the child died July 18, 2009. Lujan was arrested hours later. Emergency medical responders had been summoned to a motel room in the 800 block of North H Street in Lompoc, where Diego, Lujan, Davis and Diego's 5-year-old sister were staying.
Diego, who was not breathing, was taken to Lompoc Valley Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Lujan is charged with murder, as well as assault on a child causing death and torture in Diego's death. He also is standing trial for allegedly torturing the 17-month-old daughter of a previous girlfriend in 2006, and a count of domestic violence against Davis. Davis has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of child abuse based on her failure to protect her son. She was sentenced to a year in county jail, a year in a residential drug treatment program and five years probation. Lujan's trial before Judge Edward Bullard started last week and could last more than a month. Under questioning by Senior Deputy District Attorney Jerry McBeth, Frank explained that Diego suffered 18 injuries to his right arm, 17 injuries to his left arm, 16 injuries on his right leg, 14 injuries on his chest and about 25 injuries to his back, including scrapes and bruises. The inside of his throat was inflamed, he had little tears inside his mouth consistent with a strike to the face, bruises on his face and scalp, and damage to his fingernails. The boy suffered injuries to his genitals, Frank testified, and there was bleeding in his abdomen. The wound that was fatal for Diego was the rupturing of his small intestine, she said, caused by a force from outside his body that pushed his small intestine against his spine. "We can sometimes see internal injuries when there's not anything ... outside," Frank explained. "There was a large quantity of bloody fluid in the abdominal cavity," she added. During questioning by Lujan's attorney, David Bixby, Frank said that she couldn't say how long before his death Diego sustained the finger tip injuries, which she previously said could be caused by someone biting them. Frank also said that she couldn't put an exact date on when the child suffered the bruises. She said that she could not scientifically determine what exactly caused the child's fatal stomach injury. Diego could have suffered some of his injuries more than a few days before his death, Frank said, "but I can't really say with certainty." The trial continues this morning.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40229683/ns/local_news-santa_maria_ca/

LostMemory wrote:You guys should be holding torches and chasing people.Your posts arn't even debatable.You are acting like an angry mob that has lost it's point.

''So what if sicko bastards seek out addicts? Why are addicts having babies? ''

Tell me you graduated highschool.Your comment doesn't make sense.Yeh, So what if he was a predator and so what about addiction.Read a book or take a class.

''This woman allowed this man to torture her baby. She brought him into her home, into her bed. In exchange she stood silently by and let him torture her baby to death.''

You guys are insane.That is a great imagination.Now lets get back to reality, where things arn't as easy as making things up based on your emotions.

Yes, Be happy that you had a stable upbringing and i had one that taught me a lot.But i'll tell you one thing, you don't know a damn thing you are ranting about here.Atleast, I know i can say that.

And the only injustice concerning law is how they don't have the electric chair for men like this.But they had the bail at 3 million for a reason.The court has been through things like this loads of times.It isn't an accident or stupidity that gets them to decide the outcome of all.

The End.

p.s I still support the site.

Your ignorant post doesn't really deserve a response.

Are you the POS mother who allowed this evil monster to torture this poor little baby to DEATH?

It is offensive that you can defend a woman like this. Her punishment was too lenient.

I hope she is never allowed to have a child in her custody again. NEVER.

Child-murder suspect testifies in his own defense

Wednesday, December 1, 2010 11:26 pm
James Lujan, standing trial for allegedly murdering one child and nearly beating another to death, testified Wednesday that he did not injure either child. Lujan, a 30-year-old Lompoc resident, elected to take the witness stand in his own defense, and spent the entire court day being examined by his attorney, David Bixby. Lujan testified that he and Meagan Davis — Lujan’s former girlfriend and the mother of 4-year-old Diego Calles who Lujan is accused of killing — spent the days before Diego died in July 2009smoking marijuana while never discussing taking the increasingly weakening boy to a doctor. Lujan said he tried to give the child, who he thought had the flu, Tylenol and Sprite the day he died when he found him slumped half on a bed and half off and apparently in pain. “I asked her (Davis) why he was over there like that,” he testified. “She said she didn’t know.” He said he then asked Diego if he wanted a shower, and the child responded he did. “He didn’t make it. He looked dizzy,” Lujan testified, wiping his eyes with a tissue. Lujan said he told Davis to call 9-1-1 before leaving the Lompoc motel through the window where he was living with Davis, Diego and Davis’s then- 5-year-old daughter. Diego lost consciousness and could not be revived. He was pronounced dead at Lompoc Valley Medical Center. Lujan is accused of beating Diego for several days before the child died July 18, 2009. He was arrested hours later. Lujan is charged with murder, as well as assault on a child causing death and torture in Diego’s death. He is also on trial for allegedly torturing the 17-month-old daughter of another girlfriend in 2006, and a count of domestic violence against Davis. Davis has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of child abuse based on her failure to protect her son. She was sentenced to a year in county jail, a year in a residential drug treatment program and five years probation. She testified for the prosecution earlier in Lujan’s trial that the defendant punched and kicked Diego over the course of several days, but she could not stop him. She said that two days before her son died, the boy started acting sick and vomiting. The medical examiner who conducted the autopsy on Diego testified that the boy had bruises and cuts all over his body, andhe died from blunt force abdominal injuries. Senior Deputy District Attorney Jerry McBeth finished presenting his witnesses last week and the defense began presenting its case. Lujan’s trial before Superior Court Judge Edward Bullard inSanta Maria began with opening statements Nov. 9. Wearing a dress shirt and tie, Lujan spoke so quickly as he testified Wednesday that several times the court reporter, who was transcribing the proceedings, had to ask him to slow down. At some instances Lujan laughed, at others he cried. He gestured as he spoke, and did not shy away from using curse words while recounting conversations. Lujan said he punished Diego for biting his sister several days before he died by putting the boy in the corner of the motel room. Lujan said that a few days before Diego died, he walked out of the motel bathroom and stepped in the child’s feces that were on the floor. The defendant denied becoming angry at stepping in the feces, and said that he just sat the child on the toilet. He also said that he noticed marks on Diego’s side at that time,which Davis told him were from fighting with his sister. The day before he died, Diego vomited several times throughout the day, according to Lujan. “He wasn’t moving like he usually does,” he added. Under cross-examination by McBeth, Lujan said that when Davis told him Diego was on a breathing machine at the hospital, he assumed everything was all right because he was in medical care. Also in court Wednesday, a juror was dismissed and replaced by an alternate because of concerns that she had talked to others about the case. The trial will not resume until Dec. 13, at which time McBeth will continue questioning Lujan.
http://www.santamariatimes.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_a1dca80a-fde5-11df-ae5b-001cc4c002e0.html

Snipped from news story above: “I was yelling at him, cussing at him, trying to make him stop,”she testified. Lujan pushed her down, Davis testified, and kept her pinned, then kicked Diego when he came close."

To me, maybe the saddest part of this story. This dear little boy had been sick for at least two days, his intestines pressing against his spine, internal bleeding and vomiting, yet when his mother was being "pinned down" and was upset he "came close" to the man who had been so violently torturing him - to help his mother. What a brave little one.

May God help the children.

ladibug wrote:Snipped from news story above: “I was yelling at him, cussing at him, trying to make him stop,”she testified. Lujan pushed her down, Davis testified, and kept her pinned, then kicked Diego when he came close."

To me, maybe the saddest part of this story. This dear little boy had been sick for at least two days, his intestines pressing against his spine, internal bleeding and vomiting, yet when his mother was being "pinned down" and was upset he "came close" to the man who had been so violently torturing him - to help his mother. What a brave little one.

May God help the children.

Oh god, the picture you just painted won't leave my mind for a very very long time

Kiwi, there are just too many mental pictures, aren't there?

Info: I know a very dear woman whose family fostered children.
The DCS in MD forbid her from spanking (not abusing) but told her to punish bad behavior by "putting the children in a cold shower". This seems not only humiliating but not especially healthy either. That was the official state recommendation.

Back when the search for Caylee was going on wasn't there a woman on drugs who actually chewed off the fingers of her baby?

Man accused of beating Lompoc boy to death guilty on 4 of 5 counts

Posted: Dec 17, 2010 3:39 PM by Courtney Meznarich

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The man accused of beating a Lompoc boy to death was found guilty
on four of five counts in a Santa Barbara County courtroom Friday.
Investigators say James Lujan beat 4-year-old Diego Calles to death
back in July of 2009. Emergency crews were called to the Budget Inn on H
Street in Lompoc after the boy stopped breathing. Investigators say
there were visible signs of bruising all over the boy's body.
Lujan was the then boyfriend of the child's mother.
Friday, a jury found Lujan guilty of torturing another child back in
2006. He was also convicted of 2nd degree murder for the death of Diego
Calles. Lujan was found guilty of child abuse causing death and torture
as well. The jury found Lujan not guilty on charges of domestic violence
against a spouse.
A KSBY News crew was in the courtroom as the verdict was read. Be
sure to watch KSBY News at 5 and 6 for the latest on this story.

The loudest always have the least to say.

''Besides that, it is irrelevant.''

''Your ignorant post doesn't really deserve a response.''

''She will be back on crack and having more babies to suffer before we finish the trial!''

I can't say i know exactly what happened with those involved.I can say that you judge an array of things you have no knowledge of.

''The courts need to send the message''

It doesn't work that way, Thank god.People like you don't understand why they do what they do.

''If not, I'm thinking you could probably start one.''

My child wouldn't go near people like you cause i'd fear they would grow to have an anxiety disorder.I would like to educate my children too.These things you think you know about (addiction,court) , You know nothing about.I can tell by what you are saying.You are doing no good by talking like this.

If you want to help children, work with cps.And no, You can't hang people.

I like the site cause it's collecting articles to bring awarness.Not create useless mobs.

In the start of these particular news articles, they make it both of the mothers fault.Then in the end it turns to be just the guy that abused the kids.2 cases were the same and had a pattern.If the little girl had also died, he would be considered a serial killer.Later, An older boy had come forward too.I read an article about how the guy put the boys face in his own urine.The child was also potty training and had an accident.

I followed this trial cause it was bit away ,but around the coast of california i live in.

A Lompoc man who murdered one child and nearly beat another to
death was sentenced this morning to 75 years to life in prison.



James Lujan, 30, theoretically will be 105 years old by the time he is eligible for parole.
During Lujan's sentencing hearing in Santa Maria, family members
of the young murder victim - 4-year-old Diego Calles - spoke before
Judge Edward Bullard and the others present about the pain of
losing the boy at the hands of someone who has shown no remorse.
"Sir, you're a broken man," Bullard told Lujan after issuing the sentence.
"I listened to you on the stand. You leapt from one story to
another. (You gave) no indication of remorse whatsoever."
In December, a jury found Lujan guilty of second-degree murder
instead of the first-degree murder conviction the prosecution was
seeking in the 2009 killing of Diego, but also found Lujan guilty
of torturing Diego and assaulting the boy to the degree that he died.
Evidence presented by the prosecution during the month-long
trial indicated that Lujan, annoyed by Diego's potty-training
issues and speech impediment, beat the boy over the course of
several days in a Lompoc motel room before Diego died July 18,
2009, from blunt force abdominal injuries.
In addition, jurors found Lujan guilty of torturing a 17-month-old girl named Lina in 2006.
Both victims were the children of women Lujan dated.
Lujan was acquitted of charges of corporal injury and battery on
Meagan Davis, who is Diego's mother.
http://www.santamariatimes.com/news/local/article_8bc12f08-3acd-11e0-bc02-001cc4c002e0.html