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Thread: Capital Murder Charges Dropped for Yoselin Rivas in 2015 TX Murder of 2-Month-Old Madelynn Skyler Sanchez

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    Capital Murder Charges Dropped for Yoselin Rivas in 2015 TX Murder of 2-Month-Old Madelynn Skyler Sanchez


    Saginaw mother charged with capital murder in death of infant daughter

    SAGINAW - When 2-month-old Madelynn Sanchez was found unresponsive in her Saginaw home in March, officials initially suspected sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS.

    But at Cook Children’s Medical Center, where the infant girl was pronounced dead a short time later, signs of something more sinister soon began to surface.

    Medical staff noted a small bruise above the baby’s right eyebrow and another inside her right leg, according to court documents.

    An autopsy the next day would find other serious injuries — several fractured ribs in various stages of healing and a skull fracture.

    Child Protective Services quickly removed Madelynn’s two brothers from the home and had the boys examined. Madelynn’s twin brother also had a skull and rib fractures.

    Now, Madelynn’s mother, Yoselin Rivas, has been charged with capital murder — accused of striking her daughter with or against a hard surface.

    Rivas was arrested Aug. 31 and released on $50,000 bail. She was charged last month with capital murder.

    Rivas’ attorney, Wes Ball, questioned the case against his client.

    “I think there’s a substantial question about whether Ms. Rivas is responsible for this child’s injuries,” Ball said. “I’m not convinced with the police interpretation of the medical evidence.”

    Ball said he is in the early stages of gathering evidence in the case but hopes to make a presentation when the case is heard by a Tarrant County grand jury.

    Parent’s account to police


    Rivas told Saginaw police that she was eating with her older son and the children’s father, Christopher Sanchez, inside the home in the 400 block of Cambridge Drive while the twins slept upstairs.

    When she checked on the babies, Madelynn was lying slightly rolled over and not breathing, she told police. She screamed for Sanchez, who began CPR while she called 911, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

    Both Rivas and Sanchez acknowledged to investigators that they and their 1-year-old son were the only people around the twins in the 24 hours before Madelynn’s death.

    Sanchez later told a detective that Rivas had been up upstairs alone with the twins for about 30 to 35 minutes while he was downstairs making breakfast.

    “Mr. Sanchez said Ms. Rivas had awoken grouchy and she was tired the morning of the victim’s death. He was asked if Ms. Rivas could have hit the kids and he replied not in front of him,” the affidavit, written by
    Detective Robert Richardson, states.

    Rivas acknowledged being alone with the twins while Sanchez made breakfast but insisted to the investigator that nothing had happened to Madelynn at that time. Nor, she told police, was the baby girl dropped during the 24-hour period before her death.

    Nizam Peerwani, the Tarrant County medical examiner, ruled in August that Madelynn’s death was a homicide caused by blunt trauma to the head.

    Peerwani told police that the fatal head injury would have have caused unconsciousness at or near the time of injury, the affidavit states. The autopsy found that Madelynn had 15 rib fractures, some up to three weeks old.

    The affidavit states that lab exams found no indication that the twins had any disease that would predispose them to easily broken bones.

    Police allegations


    Saginaw police say Rivas knew her daughter had a bone fracture before she was told specifics about the girl’s injuries.

    Ball said he thinks it’s noteworthy that a judge set bail at only $50,000.

    “The number of people I’ve had on bail in a capital case I can count on two fingers,” he said. “Literally, I think I’ve had two people.”

    He also drew into question why it took more than five months for an arrest to be made.

    “I think all the evidence was in pretty much within weeks of the child’s death,” he said. “Kind of makes you wonder what the reason for the delay was. I would attribute it to uncertainty, which is still in play.”

    Madelynn’s brothers remain in foster care.

    Documents filed by CPS indicate that police were called after the parents and another relative screamed vulgarities and threatened the lives of CPS investigators as they took custody of Madelynn’s two siblings.

    The parents have since been cooperating with CPS in attempt to be reunited with the children, the documents state.

    http://www.star-telegram.com/news/lo...e37357767.html

    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
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    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Any updates since 2015?
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

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    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    I just did some checking and I think maybe the charges were dropped because there have been no updates, and she is not in prison.
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  4. #4
    Administrator Helen's Avatar
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    After 7 Years, Capital Murder Charges Dropped Against Saginaw Mother

    Prosecutors say new evidence surfaced not in the original autopsy

    By Scott Gordon
    NBC 5 News

    After seven years, Tarrant County prosecutors have dropped capital murder charges against a Saginaw mother who had been awaiting trial in the 2015 death of her young daughter.

    In a court filing, prosecutors blamed a new medical examiner’s report that broadened the possible timeline of the child’s death, suggesting someone else may have killed two-month-old Madelynn.

    The mom, Yoselin Rivas, had been out on bond since her arrest.

    “Dismissing a capital murder case is not a common event. It’s highly unusual,” Rivas’ attorney Wes Ball said. “It was about seven years in the making.”

    Ball said she cried when he called her with news of the dismissal.

    Rivas, who was then 21, was accused of striking her daughter against a hard surface after doctors found broken ribs and bruises on the baby’s body.

    At the time, prosecutors said Rivas was the only adult around the child at the time of the injuries.

    But in January, former Tarrant County Medical Examiner Dr. Nizam Peerwani issued a new written opinion at the request of Rivas’ attorney, “supplementing” the original autopsy report, prosecutors said.

    Prosecutors said Peerwani included new information not included in the original autopsy about the girl’s body temperature when she arrived at Cook Children’s Medical Center, which indicated she would have died hours before her mother reported finding her.

    “The timeline on when the events that caused the child’s death were actually much broader than police believed,” Ball said.

    Prosecutors agreed.

    “The timeline, in this case, is such that if the victim had succumbed to her injuries hours before she was found, then another adult would be in the timeline,” prosecutors wrote in the court document.

    Separately, in a meeting with prosecutors on March 21, the girl’s father said he didn’t know if Rivas was guilty. He previously said he believed she killed the baby, according to the dismissal papers.

    In a phone interview, Peerwani said the supplement never changed his original findings.

    “I never gave a timeline,” he said. “How can an autopsy determine when a child was injured?”

    “Sometimes people get confused,” Peerwani said. “I explained to the DA that the autopsy is neutral. I can’t tell you who did it.”

    Peerwani added police and prosecutors never consulted with him before arresting Rivas.

    Peerwani retired last year amid controversy about his office’s handling of other autopsies. He denies any wrongdoing.

    Saginaw police did not respond to an email asking about the status of the investigation.

    Tarrant County District Attorney Sharen Wilson also did not respond to a request for comment.

    https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/af...other/2930325/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  5. #5
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    I’m betting the they were dropped because of the temper tantrum going on about Melissa Lucio, considering how similar the cases are
    Thank you for the adventure - Axol

    Tried so hard and got so far, but in the end it doesn’t even matter - Linkin Park

    Hear me, my chiefs! I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever. - Hin-mah-too-yah-lat-kekt

    I’m going to the ghost McDonalds - Garcello

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