NYC dad charged for death of infant son after repetitive shaking

Adam Devine

Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz today announced that Luis Sanchez, 30, has been indicted by a Queens grand jury on manslaughter and other charges in the death of his infant son inside the family’s 88th Street residence in August 2019.

District Attorney Katz said, “A baby was left in his father’s care, where he should have been safe from harm. Instead, the baby died of injuries consistent with abusive head trauma caused by violent repetitive shaking, and the defendant is in custody facing serious criminal charges.”

Sanchez, of Woodhaven, Queens, was arraigned yesterday before Queens Supreme Court Justice Ushir Pandit-Durant on a two-count indictment charging him with manslaughter in the second degree and endangering the welfare of a child. Justice Pandit-Durant ordered Sanchez to return to Court on August 2, 2021. If convicted, Sanchez faces up to 15 years in prison.

District Attorney Katz said that, according to the charges, on August 16, 2019 at approximately 12:20 p.m., after receiving a 911 call, emergency responders arrived at the family’s home and discovered the unresponsive body of a seven-week-old baby boy named Mason. The infant’s lips were blue and he was not breathing.


DA Katz said the medical technicians rushed the baby to a nearby hospital, but he died three days later. An autopsy performed on the victim showed he had sustained extensive retinal and subdural hemorrhages in addition to having several rib fractures that were at various stages of healing.

According to the charges, doctors determined that the infant’s injuries were consistent with abusive head trauma, including violent shaking. The medical examiner further confirmed these findings in the autopsy which indicated that the baby’s cause of death was abusive head trauma.

Assistant District Attorney Melissa A. Kelly, of the Special Victims Bureau, is prosecuting the case under the supervision of Assistant District Attorneys Eric C. Rosenbaum, Bureau Chief, Debra Lynn Pomodore and Brian Hughes, Deputy Bureau Chiefs, and under the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney for Major Crimes Daniel A. Saunders.

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