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Marine charged with killing son
23/11/2006 12:34 - (SA)
Fresno, California - A US marine accused of killing his newborn son after his wife died of childbirth complications was charged four days after the three-month-old's death.
Lance corporal Robert Quiroz, 20, was charged on Wednesday with murder, two felony counts of assault on a child causing death and corporal injury to a child, said assistant district attorney Robert Ellis.
He is accused of beating his son, Roman Quiroz, to death.
Quiroz was jailed on Monday and is being held at the Fresno county jail in lieu of $1m bail.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the slaying, but Quiroz told a TV station in September that he felt overwhelmed as a single parent of two and struggled to accept his son.
In August, Quiroz deployed to a training camp in Kuwait with the ninth communication battalion from Camp Pendleton. He was called home three days later with the news that his wife had given birth to a boy, but had suffered an aneurysm after breast feeding the child.
Quiroz arrived in Fresno faced with ending her life support and assuming sole responsibility for their two children.
After the infant's death on Saturday, authorities took Quiroz's 18-month-old daughter into protective custody.
A state agency also is looking into whether Fresno County social workers failed to investigate if abuse was happening after the infant suffered a broken arm in October.
- AP
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