A man accused of causing fatal injuries to his girlfriend’s infant son last summer in the Bay Terraces neighborhood was ordered Friday to stand trial on murder charges.
McArvin Sanchez Caringal, 21, is accused of fatally wounding Adrian Soto, who would have been 2, about a week after his death.
Police were called on the afternoon of June 12 to a home on Morton Way for reports of a child not breathing. The boy was taken to hospital, where he died.
San Diego police homicide Lt. Jud Campbell said the child suffered “severe traumatic internal injuries that were indicative of child abuse.”
Prosecutors say Caringal, who was watching the boy at home while the child’s mother was at work, initially told police the boy hit his head on a bed frame.
He then told investigators different versions of the events before saying he threw the boy to the ground because Caringal was irritated that the child was crying and agitated, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing.
Dr. Greg Pizarro, deputy San Diego County medical examiner, said he ruled Adrian’s death a homicide because it was “highly unlikely” that the boy’s skull fractures and blunt force injuries to the head can be self-inflicted by a child of his age. .
At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, San Diego Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh held Caringal accountable to charges of murder and child molestation causing death. Caringal remains in custody without bail.
California Daily Newspapers
