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‘What a tragedy:’ Woman who killed 2-month-old boy claims she blacked out, Polk deputies say

Witness says he ‘heard a smack’

Hipolito Juarez and Judith Torres-Garcia (Polk County Sheriff's Office)

POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A woman who is accused of killing a 2-month-old boy claims she blacked out and doesn’t know how she ended up on top of him, according to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies said they responded to a home in Fort Meade on July 3 after someone reported that an infant wasn’t breathing after falling out of his crib.

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Judith Torres-Garcia, 31, said she was sleeping around 1 p.m. when the infant’s cries woke her up, so she went to check on the baby but then she “blacked out” and couldn’t remember what happened, records show.

Hipolito Juarez, who was also at the home at the time, said he was in bed when he “heard a smack,” got out of bed and saw Torres-Garcia on the ground with the baby underneath her, according to a news release.

Deputies said 32-year-old Juarez picked up the baby and realized he was unresponsive, so he and Torres-Garcia called 911. When first responders arrived, they said they noticed the victim wasn’t breathing, his eyes were closed and he didn’t have a pulse.

Records show the boy had redness to the front of his head and swelling on the sides.

He was taken to a hospital in Tampa, where he died the next day.

A medical examiner reported that the boy suffered multiple skull fractures, bleeding inside and outside his skull and an injury to his leg and as a result, ruled the death as a homicide, according to the report.

In light of those findings, Torres-Garcia and Juarez were asked to do a reenactment of what happened to the victim on July 3.

Torres-Garcia said she and Juarez were in bed when she heard the victim “baby talking” in his bassinet in the other side of the room so she got up to tend to him, records show.

She told the boy, “Hey good morning. Good afternoon, gimmie your lil hands,” and from there she claims she blacked out, the affidavit said.

“This is the last picture in my head, after that everything went black,” Torres-Garcia told deputies, according to the report. She also reportedly said, “It’s like the lights went black.”

The next thing she remembered was Juarez asking her where the boy was as she was standing up off the floor and her replying that he was in the bassinet, records show.

Deputies said Juarez told them Torres-Garcia was checking on the baby while he was still in bed facing away from the bassinet when he “heard a smack” so he got out of bed to investigate and saw Torres-Garcia standing up off the floor then noticed the baby had been underneath her.

As they investigated at the home, deputies said they found methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana and other drug paraphernalia.

“This 8-week-old infant was killed by a woman who lives with a convicted felon and illegal drugs in the home. This baby’s life had barely begun. What a tragedy. We will do everything possible to make sure this suspect is held accountable and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Torres-Garcia and Juarez both face charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and possession of drug paraphernalia. Torres-Garcia faces an additional charge of aggravated manslaughter of a child.