Nilda Iliana Rodriguez, 30, was arrested in Killeen at about 9:50 a.m. Thursday at a home in the Summerfield mobile home park across from Hay Branch Elementary on FM 439. She was later booked into Bell County Jail on a murder charge. Her bail is $1 million.

The warrant for Ms. Rodriguez’s arrest was issued about 10 minutes before she was picked up. It came less than 24 hours after she was indicted by a Bell County grand jury.

The indictment accused Ms. Rodriguez of failing to provide food and medical care for her infant son, Deon Dajuan Griffin, who died Dec. 3. An autopsy report issued by Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences listed 7-week-old Deon’s manner of death as undetermined. The examiner noted, however, that the case was “highly suspicious of neglect.” In addition, the examiner offered an opinion that the infant died from “malnutrition and dehydration.”

The report also noted the baby had a history of feeding difficulties and that in seven weeks his birth weight only increased by 10 ounces.

The first contact CPS had with Ms. Rodriguez was in 2005 when the agency was called to her apartment to investigate a report she had left her young children unattended.

Chris Van Deusen, a spokesman for the Department of Family and Protective Services, said the call was initiated when somebody heard children crying inside the apartment and one child was unattended outside.

In that case, CPS ruled that Ms. Rodriguez had engaged in emotional and physical abuse and had neglected to supervise her children. The ruling led to the agency temporarily placing her children in the state foster care system.

CPS employees investigated four additional allegations made against Ms. Rodriguez from 2006 until December 2008 but either ruled out abuse or were unable to determine whether abuse had actually occurred, Van Deusen said.

In addition, the autopsy noted a history of domestic violence and failure to provide medical care for a child diagnosed with asthma.

Ms. Rodriguez’s other five children have been in the state foster care system since Dec. 5. With the exception of the oldest child, an 11-year-old, all the children were placed together, Van Deusen said.

At about 7 a.m. on Dec. 3, Harker Heights emergency personnel responded to a call of an infant not breathing at a location in the 1100 block of Indian Trial Drive.

Ms. Rodriguez made the 911 call from a neighbor’s telephone, First Assistant District Attorney Murff Bledsoe said.

Harker Heights police officers began CPR upon arrival. Paramedics with the Harker Heights Fire Department attempted more advanced life-saving measures and transported the infant to Metroplex Hospital in Killeen.

Justice of the Peace Garland Potvin pronounced the boy dead at about 8:50 a.m.

http://www.tdtnews.com/story/2009/8/27/60250

Emphasis added by H4K Editor