CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. – A Chesterfield County babysitter who is charged in the death of a 7-month-old girl was denied bond inside a Chesterfield courtroom Wednesday.
Lirio Jazmin Godinez-Gonzalez, 33, has been charged with felony child neglect after the infant she was babysitting died in her care. Investigators say she could face additional charges in the case.
Because of that possibility, the judge determined that Godinez-Gonzalez, who the Commonwealth says is in the country illegally, is a possible flight risk.
Ashley Michelle Bonilla Rodriguez was hospitalized with severe head trauma at Chippenham Hospital after a reported fall on December 27. She died today days later.
At Wednesday's bond hearing, Gonzalez's attorney said the baby was fussy and his client tried to console her for two hours before he says she started convulsing and was unresponsive.
Lirio Jazmin Godinez-Gonzalez, Ashley Michelle Bonilla Rodriguez
The defense attorney argued that his client is not guilty of any wrongdoing and is not a flight risk.
He went on to say that Gonzalez called the infant’s mother and an ambulance. However, the family of the infant says that Gonzalez refused to call 911 and they had to get paramedics to the Chesterfield apartment.
The Commonwealth denied the babysitter's claims, explaining given the extent of her injuries the child would have been in a comatose state, rather than crying at the time the sitter alleges.
The medical examiner has ruled the infant’s death as a homicide after it was determined the baby suffered skull fractures and internal bleeding from blunt force trauma. The commonwealth says she was hit in multiple parts of her head.
Gonzalez and her common-law husband have a two-year-old son together. She is from Mexico and has been in the united states for three years. She currently has an ICE detainer.
Her attorney says they will fight Wednesday's ruling.
Gonzalez is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing in February.
