An undocumented immigrant from Guatemala was arrested for allegedly killing his 2-month-old baby in the family’s Inwood home because he did not believe the girl was his daughter, Nassau County police said.
Marlon Rabanales-Pretzantzin, 20, pleaded not guilty Thursday at Nassau County court to a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Liseyda Rabanales-Barrios. Judge Lisa LoCurto ordered the suspect held at Nassau jail without bail and police confirmed that investigators placed a U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement hold on him because he is not in the country legally.
“He admitted to us what had happened to the baby, how he abused it physically, how he felt the child wasn’t his, and how he did not respect or want that child,” Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, the commander of the homicide squad, told reporters during a news conference at police headquarters in Mineola.
A police spokesman noted that the suspect is listed as the baby’s father on her birth certificate, but a paternity test has not been conducted.
Police said officers responded to the victim’s home after receiving a report of a choking infant, who was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment at 10:40 a.m. March 7. The baby was later transferred to another hospital, where she died, police said.
Investigators later determined that the baby was the victim of an assault and that the injuries she suffered were the cause of her death, police said.
His attorney was not immediately available for comment. He is due back in court on March 17.
