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1 month old dies, siblings found with bugs crawling from ears, parents face charges

By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

PHOENIX — Two parents in Arizona are facing charges after one of their 1-month-old children was found dead.

Police said Donald Ferguson and Emmaline Ramirez told them their infant son was having breathing problems and had been choking the evening of Jan. 5, KPNX reported.

Ramirez said she had been at a store when Ferguson called her to tell her the baby was choking and unresponsive, KTVK reported.

Ferguson said he saw Ramirez perform CPR on the baby, but they didn’t call 911, KTVK reported.

When the baby stopped breathing later that night, they called 911, according to KTVK.

While first responders were at the hotel, another 1-month-old infant in the hotel room where the family was living was found to have breathing problems. Doctors later said that baby had traumatic brain injuries, KPNX reported.

The couple’s 15-month-old baby had multiple skull fractures, police told KPNX.

The baby who died, according to the child’s autopsy, had “no signs of deadly traumatic injuries” but more tests are being performed," KTVK reported.

There were a total of four other children -- a 6-year-old, a 4-year-old, the 15-month-old and the other 1-month-old -- at the hotel, in addition to the baby who died. They were found with dirty diapers and were filthy, police said. They all had lice and bugs crawling from their ears, according to police, KPNX reported.

The Department of Child Safety has custody of the children, KTVK reported.

Ramirez told police Ferguson gets angry and violent, and one of the children told the authorities their father threw the baby who died on the ground. Ferguson said he had hit Ramirez when he was angry, but said he didn’t hurt the children, telling police he “was too scared to hold the small children,” KTVK reported.

Ferguson and Ramirez were arrested Jan. 7, KTVK reported.

Both Ferguson and Ramierz now face seven counts of child abuse. Both also had prior reports of child abuse against them, KPNX reported.

Cropped Hands Of Man With Handcuffs FILE PHOTO: A man and woman in Phoenix are charged with child abuse after their 1-month-old baby died and other children were found in what police said were filthy diapers and bugs crawling from their ears. (Thomas Kopf / EyeEm/Getty Images/EyeEm)

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