Milliken infant faces lifetime disability after child abuse
Nine-month-old April Martinez, of Milliken, is at Children’s Hospital with traumatic brain injuries after allegedly being shaken during a visit with her mother in Alamosa in October. Her mother’s boyfriend has been charged with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. The family now likely faces lifetime expenses to deal with her injuries. April’s aunt is attempting to raise money to help her sister and her niece. (Barbara Zamora photo)
She loves Fruit Loops.
Today, 9-month-old April Martinez, of Milliken, can’t eat her favorite cereal. She can’t eat anything. She lies in a bed at Children’s Hospital in Aurora hooked to a tube that provides hydration and nutrition, paralyzed on the right side of her body, and partially blind.
The little girl may have been shaken by her mother’s boyfriend while the pair was in Alamosa last month visiting him. He is in jail, while April is in a prison of her own in her broken body.
April’s aunt, Barbara Zamora, of Milliken, is trying to raise money to help her sister, Delilah Martinez, begin to piece together the financial resources to take care of April when she returns home — likely at the end of December. Zamora has placed donation boxes at Far Better Convenience Store and other businesses in the community.
“We’re still trying to have faith,” Zamora said.
Martinez, April’s mother, went to Alamosa in October to visit her 22-year-old boyfriend, Jeramie Parker. There had even been talk about Martinez, her 5-year-old son and April moving to the San Luis Valley to live with him.
On Oct. 22, Martinez went to the grocery store and asked Parker to take care of the baby. While still out, she received a call from him saying April was nonresponsive. Rushing back to the house, she called 911.
April was flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in critical condition.
According to doctors, she suffered a traumatic brain injury.
“Everyone thought he (Parker) was a good guy,” said Zamora, who had never met her sister’s boyfriend. “He allegedly shook the baby, and now she’ll be disabled for the rest of her life.”
Sgt. Rick Needham of the Alamosa Police Department said last week that Parker has been charged with child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Wednesday. Part of the reason she is trying to raise money for her sister, Zamora said, is to help pay the costs of travel to Alamosa for the court hearings.
Needham, saying the case is still under investigation, didn’t elaborate on why police suspect Parker was involved, saying only that the 22-year-old man “was the caregiver at the time” and that “a child this age can’t really injure them self this way.”
While the family first worried if April would even survive, they now face a likely lifetime and costs of dealing with her disabilities. Zamora said it is unlikely her niece will walk, and she’ll need a special stroller. While Medicaid is expected to pay the medical expenses, money will have to be raised to buy equipment such as the stroller that April will need.
Zamora said her sister and niece will live with her when they are able to bring April home. Right now, she said, Martinez is at the hospital in Aurora with her daughter. Her aunt said April was always a sweet and active baby. “She loved eating bananas, and her favorite cereal was Fruit Loops,” she said. She also loved her little black poodle Beanie Baby. “It was her favorite puppy,” Zamora said. The little stuffed dog now lies in bed next to April at Children’s.
“We know she’s a fighter, and she’s going to fight for her life,” Zamora said. “That’s what’s giving us hope.”
Editor’s note: If you would like to help the family, you may call Barbara Zamora at 970-388-0058.
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