CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Bond has been granted for a Chesterfield County babysitter charged with murder in the death of a seven-month-old girl.
In December of 2018, Lirio Jazmin Godinez-Gonzalez, 33, was arrested and charged with child neglect after a 7-month-old infant died after receiving serious injuries to her head while in her care.
Ashley Michelle Bonilla Rodriguez was hospitalized with severe head trauma at Chippenham Hospital after a reported fall on December 27. She died three days later.
Gonzalez was arrested by detectives on December 28, 2018. She was indicted with murder earlier this year.
The defense for Gonzales says she cooperated with detectives at that time and called the police as well as the mother, alerting them to the child being in danger. However, the Commonwealth's Attorney presented evidence concerning the severity of the head injury the 7-month-old sustained.
Lirio Jazmin Godinez-Gonzalez
The medical examiner 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.
The Commonwealth said that doctors, in this case, said this type of injury, resulting in the brain to swell and the child to convulse, would have shown immediate effects.
The Commonwealth's Attorney believes Gonzalez's actions led to the result of the child's death. However, the defense in Monday's bond hearing stated that there is no real evidence of wrongdoing in this case.
The defense argued that it was not fair to have Gonzalez be held behind bars when no one knew when the injury happened or who caused it.
The commonwealth argued that something happened in the home with the child while in Gonzalez's care and that she is a flight risk.
The judge ultimately approved bond being set at $50,000 under the condition that Gonzalez must wear a home electronic monitor.
Family was present at Monday's hearing -- but declined to comment.
The trial for Gonzalez is scheduled to begin on February 5, 2020.
