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Wendy Rogel-Pagasa pleaded not guilty yesterday to charges of second-degree
murder and child abuse in the death of her 2-year-old son, Jorge
Zamora-Rogel.
Phoenix police say the 18-year-old mother called 9-1-1 more than three
hours after the boy went unconscious — and eventually died — due to being badly beaten by her
boyfriend Juan Garcia, who’s still on the loose.
Click here to read previous details on the case.
Rogel-Pagasa was initially booked into jail on a felony child-abuse
charge, but court documents show a second-degree murder charge was added
from a grand jury indictment.
After Garcia allegedly beat the boy and just left when he couldn’t wake the boy up, Rogel-Pagas also tried to wake him up, telling police she cleaned the “bloody froth” coming out of his mouth several times.
Rogel-Pagas
told police her son’s arms were spasming uncontrollably, and his
erratic breathing was making a “rattling sound” — which she recognized
from “one of her dogs which died shortly after making this noise.”
About
90 minutes after Garcia left, he showed up again and tried to wake the
boy up — again by hitting the kid and bending his fingers back — which
still didn’t work.
Shortly before 10:45 p.m. — more than three hours after Garcia
allegedly started beating the boy — Rogel-Pagas called 9-1-1, but the
boy was pronounced dead at the home shortly after the fire department’s
arrival.
Police say she didn’t have an explanation for waiting more than three hours to call the cops.
Our question this morning: Should Rogel-Pagasa really be charged with second-degree murder in her son’s death?
Cast your vote below:
