Couple Charged in Baby's Death

On Thursday, April 23rd 2009, 11-month-old Anany Nitay Sanchez of Newburgh, New York died. An autopsy revealed that she died of "blunt force trauma to her liver".

On Friday police arrested Christian F. Lujan, 29, on a charge of second-degree manslaughter for recklessly causing the death of the baby. Lujan is not the baby's father. His bail was set at $250,000. Judge Peter Kulkin said he wouldn’t base the bail amount on any speculation of future charges although, “the facts may very well result in a higher charge.”

On Monday police also arrested Desiree Miranda, 20, the baby's mother, on charges she assaulted her baby daughter in October 2008, six months before the little girl’s death. Her bail was set at $50,000.

On Tuesday they both appeared in court in an investigation that involved the City of Newburgh Police, Orange County Child Abuse Task Force, the State Police and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.

Desiree Miranda had taken her daughter, little Anany Nitay Sanchez, to St. Luke's Hospital on Thursday evening because her baby had been sick for a couple of days and was having trouble breathing. While being examined at the hospital, the staff noticed that the baby had prior injuries that were still healing.

The hospital called the police and the baby was transferred to Westchester Medical Center, where she underwent an emergency operation. The doctors were not able to save Anany's life. An autopsy the following day revealed that blunt force trauma to Anany’s liver killed her.

While in court on Tuesday, Desiree Miranda appeared on the verge of collapse. Her attorney, Doug Jones, said there was no proof she’d done anything wrong in October and she had taken the baby to see the doctor several times since then. She most recently saw a doctor in March when the baby was spitting blood. The doctor attributed it to a cold or infection. According to Jones, Anany went home with her mother after each visit.

City Judge Peter Kulkin noted Miranda’s inconsolable condition Tuesday but said she “didn’t seem to have a care in the world” when he arraigned her Monday, before she knew she would be incarcerated. He set her bail at $50,000.

The baby's father, 20-year-old Armando Sanchez, is serving time in prison on drug-related charges. He was incarcerated before his daughter was born. He is due to be released in November.

His brother, Wilfredo Sanchez, said Armando was told about his daughter in prison and he was hysterical when they told him. Anany would have been a year old on Sunday.

“He never held her,” Wilfredo said. “He never kissed her. He never saw her.”

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