EATONTON, Ga. — Authorities believe a 5-month-old baby was killed at the hands of their babysitter in Putnam County, but two others are also facing charges due to making false statements, according to Eatonton Police Chief Howell Cardwell.
Back on Oct. 10, the Eatonton Police Department was notified of a child, Christopher Perez-Gutierrez, life flighted to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta with serious injuries: a skull fracture, brain bleed and injuries to their body, Cardwell said.
Only 10 days later, Perez-Gutierrez died from his injuries.
"A 5-month-old — it's just a tragedy," Cardwell said.
But during the course of the investigation, Cardwell said authorities ran into a tangled web of mistruths, some stemming from fear and others as an attempt to avoid fault in Perez-Gutierrez's death.
The first person arrested in the case was the mother, Mayra Perez, on Oct. 12.
While they don't believe Perez was responsible in her son's death — with a polygraph exam finding she did not know what happened — she lied to authorities during the investigation, Cardwell said.
She told authorities that the child fell out of a high chair which caused the injuries.
"That story did not end up being true," Cardwell said.
The injuries, Cardwell said, were way too serious to have come from falling out of a chair.
Instead, investigators believed that the child was injured by the child's babysitter, 42-year-old Reyna Lopez.
The babysitter was charged with felony murder, malice murder and aggravated assault, Cardwell said. Lopez did not run an official babysitting business.
Perez took Perez-Gutierrez to Lopez that morning at 6:30 a.m. on Oct. 10. Then, only an hour later, the babysitter Lopez called Perez saying the child was sick and "very lethargic."
Lopez told authorities that the baby fell off the sofa, "which was just not true," Cardwell said.
She said Perez-Gutierrez became unresponsive, causing her to shake the baby to try and revive him, but that didn't work, Cardwell said. Then, that's when Lopez told authorities she struck the baby to try and revive him.
"I don't know why you'd hit someone to try to revive them," Cardwell said.
But Cardwell said that Lopez's statements just did not align. She was arrested Nov. 13.
"We kept digging," Cardwell said.
According to Cardwell, the baby's mother Perez told authorities she lied because she "feared" Lopez.
Lopez's husband, Joel Perez-Sanchez, was also arrested for making false statements, Cardwell said. They don't believe he told them the truth about what he knew about the situation. He arrested on Nov. 14.
Cardwell said all parties were undocumented immigrants from Guatemala.
Cardwell says that the case reinforces the importance of hiring reputable babysitters
"They just need to be a legitimate babysitter," Cardwell said. "This is just such a tragic, tragedy."
Cardwell wanted to thank Howard Sills with the sheriff's office and Hargrove Jones, a new investigator with the department, for their help on the case.