Photo/Courtesy GCSO: Aaron Garza, 29, was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for the November 2019 death of his son, Aaron Jordan “AJ” Garza.

John Johnson

john johnson news@gmail.com

SAFORD – 29-year-old Aaron Adrian Garza appeared before Graham County Superior Court Judge Protem Travis L. Ragland on Tuesday and was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the death of his 11-month-old son, Aaron Jordan “AJ.” was Garza. His sentence is in increments of 1 day and his time in prison is 706 days.

Judge Ragland found factors that exacerbated the victim’s family’s emotional distress and that it occurred in the presence of another child, and also found some mitigating factors. ”

Judge Ragland said, “There is no reason to believe that he would have killed a child on purpose.” ”

Aaron Garza’s attorney, Donyell I. Wright of Tucson, has argued for a minimum ten-year prison term, and Graham County Chief Deputy Attorney C. Alan Perkins has argued for a maximum of 15 years in prison, which may be granted under this petition. bottom.

Aaron Garza had previously pleaded guilty to a modified charge of manslaughter, a class 2 felony that called for 10 to 15 years in prison. it was done. He was originally charged with first-degree murder on February 11, 2021 in connection with an incident that occurred on November 15, 2019. The infant wasn’t breathing, but gasped for air and likely choked on the chip. The reporter later reported that the infant had completely stopped gasping at 11:32 pm.

AJ was taken to Mount Graham Regional Medical Center shortly before midnight, where ER staff noticed he showed signs of bruising and had a head injury, later listed as a skull fracture.

AJ was then transported to Banner-University Medical Center Tucson, where he remained on life support, but was declared brain dead at 5:55 a.m. on November 18, 2019. She was then kept on her life support until November 20th. In 2019, his body could be used for organ donation.

An autopsy by the Pima County Coroner’s Office found the cause of death to be blunt force trauma/homicide with an 8.5-centimeter fracture to the back of the head, with AJ having a hemorrhage extending to his spinal cord and a retinal hemorrhage in his eye.

Garza was first arrested on November 27, 2019, after the Graham County Sheriff’s Office reviewed the Pima County coroner’s autopsy findings and interviewed him before being held in Graham County Adult Detention on charges of manslaughter and child abuse. has been reserved for Garza, who has two children because her mother, who doesn’t live with him, drove them to and from work, said her child had fallen off the couch the day before, but why she had trouble breathing that day. He then said his daughter was feeding him AJ Pringles potato chips and choked. He claimed that he frequently climbed and fell on chairs.

On the night of the incident, MGRMC doctors said the child had suffered a skull fracture in the back of his head. The child also had a large bruise on his face. According to police reports, Garza explained that he punched her AJ to wake her up after he choked on a chip. Garza also explained that AJ fell off the couch and hit her head on the table, which likely caused her skull fracture.

Garza later said that on the same day his son collapsed, he accidentally hit the back of AJ’s head against the corner of the wall while carrying him through the door. However, according to the doctor who performed the autopsy, the manner in which AJ was injured did not match Garza’s description of her, and even if they had, the parents would have quickly discovered the severity of the injury, and Garza would have been injured. It is said that he advised him not to notice the injury. After hitting her head, her son’s behavior changed.

The verdict came after nearly two hours of hearings, which included comments from the parents of the deceased child, family support for Aaron Garza, and arguments for and against the length of prison time.

On Tuesday, AJ’s mother, Alicia Garcia, spoke to Aaron Garza in court and expressed her thoughts on the sentencing structure he faced.

“Ten to fifteen years?” Garcia asked. “Sorry you got off easy. 10 to 15 years is nothing compared to life without a son. He never had his first birthday. He takes his first steps.” I can’t take him to the first day of school.”

“He was defenseless and didn’t even have anyone to help him,” Gasia said. And when I stand here and look at you, it makes me feel disgusted. I’m here. ”

Aaron Garza also spoke for himself, turned his back on his son, daughter, mother, and his family, and kept the bare minimum so that he could be there while his daughter was still a boy. He said he sought a verdict.

Aaron Garza said, “I ask that I be given a lesser sentence so that I can have the opportunity to be there for my daughter when she is still a child.”The best father I can be. It’s a great chance to strengthen the father-daughter bond.It’s a chance to be a hero for your daughter.”

Graham County Chief Deputy County Attorney C. Alan Perkins prosecuted the case, adding that while factual grounds were shown, child abuse stemmed from two separate injuries that required medical attention. The judge noted that additional evidence could be taken into consideration, such as the allegation of .before the fatal case.

Perkins also looked at a summary of AJ’s injuries, showing typical symptoms of what was called “shaken baby syndrome,” detailing the severity of fractures and hemorrhages.

“This kid was a wreck,” Perkins said.

“We don’t know the mechanism by which this kid sustained a severe back of the head injury and fractured it. But a 2-inch fracture is huge in this situation, and swinging a cane won’t do it. To inflict that kind of injury is not possible.” Either his head had to contact something, or something had to contact his head with considerable force.”

Perkins insisted on an aggravated prison sentence and demanded that Aaron Garza be sentenced to 15 years in prison, the maximum allowed in a plea bargain.

The entire family, including Aaron Garza’s mother, grandmother, brother and cousin, spoke on his behalf.

His attorney, Donyell I. Wright, called the Graham County Sheriff’s Office investigation “one of the worst” she had ever seen, and said the medical evidence could be misinterpreted. Wright said her client was guilty of the negligence and not intentional harm set forth in the plea bargain.

“This was a terrifying investigation,” Wright said. “I don’t know if the courts are aware, but I used to prosecute cases like this in the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, so I have a lot of experience with child abuse cases and these types of death investigations. , one of the worst studies I’ve ever put on paper.”

Wright said Aaron Garza accidentally hit his son’s head against the door frame before shaking him and hitting him in the face to get him to breathe.

“My client – ​​he didn’t hurt his child on purpose,” said Wright. There was no father, he didn’t really know how to raise a child, and he didn’t really understand the seriousness of the injuries AJ suffered when he hit his head against the door jamb. He didn’t think it was a serious injury, but there is no evidence that the child was hit…he didn’t realize the severity of his head injury when he hit the door jamb. He didn’t realize that shaking the baby would cause more injury instead of helping him. I didn’t realize there was something worse than that.This is typical neglectful parenting and I’m not intentionally trying to harm my son.”

Wright added that Aaron Garza regrets what happened and will always suffer for what happened that night.

“For whoever is part of the family in this room right now, there is nothing that will take away this pain. It will never go away. There is no ointment to put on this wound. It will last a lifetime.” Even when he gets out of prison, this is something that will haunt him for the rest of his life.

Ultimately, Judge Ragland sentenced Aaron Garza to a maximum of 15 years in prison, which he was allowed under a plea bargain, and said he did not believe the injuries were done intentionally.

“If the court had thought it had the intention to do this, if it were so and the facts supported it, the prosecution would not have filed a petition and the court would not have accepted a petition of this nature. I guess,” said Judge Ragland.