Pueblo Police Say Video Evidence Won’t Change Child Murder Case

Pueblo police said the brain injury that killed 5-month-old Antonio Angel two weeks ago did not happen while riding with his father on a city bus, and that video recorded from inside a bus confirms their finding.

Anthony Angel, 23, claimed earlier that Antonio bumped his head on a bar in the bus, police said, but police said it caused only a minor injury not consistent with the more serious injury that killed the infant.

“The damage to the baby in the autopsy is to the right front of the head, the right temporal area,” said Deputy Police Chief Andrew McLachlan. “This type of injury would manifest itself very quickly; not hours, probably within minutes.”

McLachlan said video evidence showed Antonio appeared active and normal during the bus ride, suggesting the fatal injury happened after he returned home with his father. Angel said his son was fine until the child began choking on the afternoon of Nov. 18.

Police said a neighbor told them Angel asked him for a ride to a hospital, saying Antonio wasn’t breathing. Antonio first was treated at Parkview Medical Center, then at Children’s Hospital in Denver where he died. The neighbor told police Angel had shown no signs of violence against Antonio before.

Angel is accused of first-degree murder and child abuse. He’s being held in the Pueblo County Jail with bond set at $254,000. Jail officials said Angel also is charged with violating a protection order and with two counts of harassment. His first scheduled court date is Dec. 12. Angel is represented by public defender Bill Martinez, who was unavailable for comment Friday.

Brandi Strawn, 22, Antonio’s mother, is in the same jail, accused of theft and providing false information to a pawnbroker. Police said both parents, who were arrested Tuesday, were trying to sell stolen gold.

Late Friday, a woman who identified herself as a relative of Strawn, spoke about the video evidence.

“Who’s to say whether the bus did or didn’t cause (Antonio’s) death?” she said. “With a child that young, any kind of bump on the head could be dangerous.”