Juan C. v. Super. Ct. CA4/3

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On July 24, 2011, Los Alamitos police received a report of a woman acting erratically outside a homeless shelter. Officers observed N.L. (mother) swinging newborn M.C. by the lower body, causing his head to flop dangerously back and forth. Mother proclaimed she was “dancing for the Gods and here is my sacrifice for the Gods.” Mother was unkempt, and appeared to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Mother dropped the infant to the ground and kicked him, causing him to flip over. M.C. suffered serious injuries, including internal brain bleeding, requiring hospitalization in a surgical intensive care unit. The officer arrested mother for child endangerment and other offenses. A social worker with the Orange County Social Services Agency (SSA) interviewed mother later at the jail. Mother denied harming M.C., but acted erratically during the interview, and threatened the social worker. Mother told the social worker M.C.’s “father was in

2 heaven” and the social worker “should ask Moses to send the father down to pick up the child.”1 The social worker located father two days later. He and mother were not married, but had been together for about…