“Distressed and out of touch with reality;” Father claimed he left his 5-month-old son alone for an hour and returned to find him purple in the face before cops found strangulation marks; arrested
New Mexico – In a deeply troubling case in New Mexico, a 35-year-old father, identified as J. White, has been arrested after his infant son was found dead under suspicious circumstances. White has been charged with one count of child abuse resulting in death and one count of abandonment of a child resulting in death. The charges stem from the disturbing death of his 5-month-old son, who authorities say was found lifeless in an unsanitary home and bore signs of strangulation.
The incident began around 2 p.m. on Sunday when police department officers responded to a 911 call about an unresponsive infant at a home. Emergency responders arrived to find the baby lying on a couch. The child was immediately transported to the regional medical center, but he was pronounced dead at 2:42 p.m. Initially, White told officers that he had left his son alone in a bouncer for about an hour while he visited a friend and returned to find the child “purple in the face.” However, law enforcement quickly determined that the father’s story did not match the condition and timeline of the infant’s body.
Police said the baby was already in full rigor mortis when they arrived, which indicates that the child had died far earlier than White claimed. According to the complaint, “[The child] was in full rigor mortis at the time he was transported to the hospital. In addition, it was discovered that once transported to the hospital, the rigor mortis began to release… This process would take between 6 to 8 hours to release. This would indicate that the death of [the child] would have had to have occurred much earlier than the story that was being given.”
A friend of White was present at the home and initially supported his version of events. She claimed to have found the baby face down in a tipped-over bouncer and called for help. However, she later changed her account, admitting to officers that she had seen White strangling his son hours earlier. “[The friend] observed White to have wrapped [the child] into a blanket… she then saw White lift [the child] into the air by his neck while still being wrapped in the blanket,” the criminal complaint states. “[The friend] described White to have both hands wrapped around [the child’s] neck and to have been strangling him.”
She reportedly told authorities she did not immediately intervene because she feared for her own safety. The same witness said that the baby had started crying around 1 a.m., and the abuse began shortly after. Police say the baby had visible marks on his neck consistent with strangulation. Officers investigating the scene discovered another child in the home who was alive but living in appalling conditions. The house was reportedly covered in dog feces, and the second child was found in a urine-soaked mattress suffering from diaper rash. In another room, officers found a filthy mattress and a baby bottle with a cockroach inside.
Drug paraphernalia was also discovered throughout the residence, and police described the environment as “completely unsanitary and a possible health risk.” Investigators further noted that White seemed emotionally unstable. Officers described him as “distressed and out of touch with reality.” According to reports, “he would appear to be fine and have conversations on the phone, then began to cry and make outbursts.”
Following his arrest, White was booked into the county detention center. He is currently being held without bond. Authorities have not yet announced a court date or whether additional charges will be filed. The second child has been removed from the home and placed in protective custody as the investigation continues. Police say they are still gathering evidence and conducting interviews in what has become one of the most distressing child death cases in the area in recent memory.
