Sheriff: Dad tried to kill 2-month-old son in hospital (Jefferson Parish, Louisiana)

Dad is identified as CESAR RUIZ.

http://www.wwl.com/JPSO--Man-tried-to-kill-son-in-hospital-with-alcoh/14638714

JPSO: Man tried to kill son in hospital with alcohol

Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s investigators say a father is under arrested after allegedly pouring straight rum into his 2-month-old son’s feeding tube while the baby was in a local hospital. 

Police say 19-year-old Cesar Ruiz is being held in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center on a count of attempted first degree murder.

According to JPSO Spokesman Col. John Fortunato, police were called to Ochsner Hospital to investigate a 2 month-old infant whom attending physicians determined had a blood alcohol content of .289.

Fortunato said the the victim, Lucas Ruiz was initially admitted to the Pediatric Unit two weeks ago with breathing difficulties. The baby was diagnosed with an un-named illness and was due to have surgery on 10/31/12.

On Sunday morning, the infant started having seizures and was moved to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit. Fortunato says PICU physicians discovered the child's BAC. That’s when cops brought family members in for questioning.

A JPSO news release says the victim’s mother told a detective “she and the baby’s father, Cesar Ruiz, left the hospital and went home to shower. When they arrived home, she retrieved an item from the freezer, and while doing so noticed that her bottle of Bacardi Silver Rum was there. A short time later, when she returned to the freezer she discovered the bottle was missing.”

According to the news release, the father “initially denied knowing what happened to bottle of rum, nor could he provide an explanation of why his son's BAC was being questioned.” However, the father reportedly confessed to being responsible for the alcohol in his 2-month-old son.

The JPSO news release describes the father's confession: “As (the detective’s) questioning continued, Ruiz confessed that before he and the victim’s mother left the hospital to go home, he took an empty feeding tube from his son's hospital room. After arriving home, he poured some of the rum into the tube and brought it back to the hospital. Ruiz continued telling (detectives) that prior to Erika feeding the baby around 11:00 pm, she walked out of the room. While she was away, Ruiz used that opportunity to pour the alcohol directly into the victim’s feeding tube, claiming that he did this in an effort to relieve his son's suffering, but also claimed that he did not intend to kill him.”

 Police say the father has no criminal history.