6-month-old baby boy who was 'bent in half' by father dies from multiple injuries

The father of a six-month-old baby boy in Arizona is set to face murder charges after his son died from being handled violently. Robert Anthony Resendiz will likely be accused of homicide for allegedly bending his infant in half.

Phoenix Police Department authorities responded to an emergency call on 19 December where they found the child unresponsive. Paramedics were unable to revive the boy and he was rushed to the Phoenix Children's Hospital.

Doctors there confirmed that the baby suffered a broken wrist, thigh bruising, and lacerations on both his pancreas and liver.

"Upon examination, doctors observed the victim had a grade 4 liver laceration, a left lateral wrist fracture, a laceration of the pancreas, and pattern bruising to the right thigh," the probable cause for arrest read.

He was not expected to survive the damage to his tiny body and according to CBS, he died on 21 December.

The 30-year-old father was taking care of the boy at the time of the abuse and was held in jail on $250,000 (£186,300) bond on charges of child abuse. KPHO reported that the charges are expected to be altered to include murder.

In his initial interview with the police, Resendiz allegedly confessed to "pressing the infant's legs over his head and bending his body in order to stop the victim from crying". According to the police report, he estimates he used around 65 percent of his strength while applying pressure to the baby till he stopped crying.

"Robert also stated he had bit the infant two times on the body out of frustration," the report stated.

Prior to his interrogation, Resendiz called 911 and told the dispatcher that he had just woken up to find his son "unresponsive and not breathing".

In a similar case of infant abuse, an 18-month-old baby girl in Texas was found dead and riddled with injuries after her mother called the police on 15 December claiming her daughter was unresponsive.

The Nueces County Medical Examiner's office informed that the child had a broken right tibia, bruising to the liver and several organs along with petechiae to the heart which was caused from shock.

She had also suffered bleeding under the scalp and brain. Her scalp had multiple fractures and bruises that wrapped from the back of the head to the right temple side and haemorrhaging to the eyes, the affidavit stated.

The document stated that the cause of death was blunt force trauma, "as if the victim was slammed against something three or four times and did not appear to be continuous abuse".

When officers responded to the 911 call, they found Chasity Herrera, 19, the child's mother sitting on the couch holding the baby. She claimed her daughter may have tripped over something and fallen.

However, the bruising and fractures identified did not corroborate with her story and Herrera was arrested on 21 December and has been charged of suspicion of murder and suspicion of injury to a child. Her bail was set at $1 million.