Inwood man charged with killing 2-month-old baby girl

Nassau County police charged an Inwood man Thursday with killing a 2-month-old baby.

Police said Marlon Rabanales-Pretzantzin, 20, was charged with second-degree murder in the March 7 death of the girl, Liseyda Rabales Pretzantzin.

Police arrested Rabanales-Pretzantzin on Wednesday after he confessed to beating the child, said Nassau County Police Det. Capt. Stephen Fitzpatrick, commanding officer of the homicide unit.

“When we interviewed the father, he admitted us of what had happened with 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,” Fitzpatrick said.

“He hit the child several times, crowned the head and face,” ,” Fitzpatrick said.  “The amount of times he’s done this to the child is still unknown, but these injuries and this behavior by him caused these injuries to this child.”

Police responded to the Inwood apartment Friday just before 11 a.m. where the baby was not breathing and in cardiac arrest. Paramedics performed CPR to stabilize the baby before she was taken to a children’s hospital, where she died about 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Detectives notified Child Protective Services and the New York City Medical Examiner began investigating the death after the baby’s severe injuries were found to be inconsistent with the original story given to police by the baby’s parents, which was that she had rolled off a bed.

These injuries included severe damage to her spine, sub-cranial bleeding, fractured ribs and older rib fractures that appeared to be healing, as well as many abrasions to her face, Fitzpatrick said.

The mother of the child, who has not been charged, also removed her one-year-old from the home, who was being examined if there was any past abuse, Fitzpatrick said.

Rabanales-Pretzantzin was taken to First District Court in Hempstead for his arraignment. Nassau police placed an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) hold on him at the Nassau County jail, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said, because he had come into the country illegally.

He will be tried on charges in Nassau County before being referred to ICE for possible deportation once the case is resolved, Ryder said.