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A MAN has been accused of killing his daughter after hitting her for “crying too much,” according to officials.
Jonathan Enriquez, 22, was arrested in connection with the death of his weeks-old baby after law enforcement received a call of an unresponsive newborn in Mesa, Arizona early last month.
On the morning of July 11, police had arrived after a man said that his baby choked on her bottle, according to police.
When they arrived on the scene, they were “handed” the four week old baby, who was unresponsive.
Police attempted to perform lifesaving measures and the baby was brought to a hospital in critical condition, according to a release.
She was then declared dead at a hospital over two weeks later on July 26.
The newborn had multiple injuries in different stages of healing, police say.
Responders had realized that she had suffered a skull fracture, a brain bleed, broken ribs and a broken leg while she was at the hospital, according to court documents reviewed by AZ Family.
The autopsy said that injuries were caused by “slamming, crushing, or stomping.”
Police were told multiple conflicting stories by the dad before he finally admitted to striking her because she was “crying too much,” according to the outlet.
The baby had fallen out of the stroller and hit her head; choked on her bottle; and that the newborn had been hit by a car seat buckle were all reasons Enriquez gave for the baby’s death, the report says.
Both parents claimed that she had fallen off the bed, too, according to the outlet.
He also allegedly said that another way he tried to get her to stop crying was to swaddle her tightly.
Police say that Enriquez was alone with the baby in an apartment at the time of the incident.
He is now being held on a $1 million bond, and charged with first-degree murder and child abuse.
In the documents, the father said that he had “deep remorse.”
Mesa Police press release on newborn’s death
“Mesa Police have arrested 22-year-old Jonathan Enriquez in connection with the death of his four-week-old daughter. Enriquez was been booked into jail for First-Degree Murder and Child Abuse.
On July 11, 2025, just before 9:00 a.m., Mesa Police responded to an apartment complex located at 1821 E. Covina for a newborn baby not breathing. It was reported that the baby choked while being fed a bottle. When officers arrived, they were handed a four-week-old baby girl who was unresponsive. Lifesaving measures were performed, and the baby was transported to the hospital, where she remained in critical condition.
Investigators learned that the baby’s father, 22-year-old Jonathan Enriquez, was alone with his daughter when she stopped breathing. They also discovered that the baby had other injuries in various stages of healing.
On July 26, 2025, the baby was declared dead at the hospital.
Both parents of the baby girl were interviewed and during Jonathan’s interview he admitted to striking his child. He was booked into jail for First-Degree Murder and Child Abuse and is being held on a $1,000,000 bond.”
He also messaged the baby’s mom and said that he had “messed up,” investigators say.
In the same state, a man was sentenced to 15 years in prison late last month after he had left his 9-year-old son decomposing for two days in disgusting conditions.
The father, Joseph Gregory Antonsen, didn’t call emergency services after he found his son dead last year.
He then left the body alone in his sweltering mobile home for two days with no air conditioning, according to CBS affiliate KOLD-TV.
At the harrowing scene, police said they found “empty beer cans, large piles of soiled diapers, rotten food, bottles full of what appears to be urine, lots of insect activity and spiders (black widow and brown recluse).”
“You knew he needed help and for whatever reason, even with the resources around you from your parents, both financial and emotional, you were not able to correct your behavior and the devastation you were surrounding your child with,” Judge Kimberly Ortiz told the father.
