Judge dismisses attempted murder, torture charges against Bakersfield couple accused of injuring 11-month-old

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET) — A judge on Friday dismissed charges of attempted murder and torture against a couple accused of inflicting injuries on their 11-month-old boy that included bleeding on the brain. Gerson Avalos and Sierra Castilleja were each ordered, however, to stand trial on a charge of willful cruelty to a child. The judge did not find sufficient evidence to support the other charges, which carry life terms in prison.

The two are next due in court March 23. Prosecutor Garrett Rice said afterward other charges will be filed against the two, and they will face about 12 years in prison if convicted. He said the judge’s ruling wasn’t entirely unexpected as the evidence showed Avalos and Castilleja knew what they were doing and that it would hurt the child, but it didn’t show they wanted the child to die. Castilleja’s attorney, Mark Anthony Raimondo, said he was “very, very pleased” with the judge’s ruling.

“It’s a best case scenario for a (preliminary hearing),” he said. There was no evidence to support the torture and attempted murder charges, Raimondo said. Castilleja’s family continues to support her, and the child is now doing fine, he said. According to a court document filed by Bakersfield police, the child was crying early Nov. 8 when Avalos grabbed the child from a couch, violently shook him then threw him onto a tile floor.

The child hit his head on the couch and the floor, the document says. Castilleja took the boy to a neighbor, where an ambulance was called. Doctors diagnosed the child as having a severe brain bleed, according to the document. “Doctors also discovered the victim was covered in fresh bruises, and several bruises were in the healing stages, suggesting ongoing abuse/torture,” investigators said in the document.

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