sa国际传媒官网网页入口

An sa国际传媒官网网页入口 woman has been arrested for allegedly neglecting and abusing her 1-year-old daughter, causing the child to be put on life support before she died.

Tabitha Molina, 32, is charged with intentional child abuse resulting in the death of a child under 12 and child abuse. She was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Tuesday. 

"Defendant neglected (the child) to the point she suffered severe injury and lost consciousness," a pretrial detention motion filed by prosecutors states.

Officers were dispatched around 10:45 p.m. May 22 to the University of New Mexico Hospital, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. Police received a report from the state Children, Youth and Families Department that a 1-year-old child was critically injured and had multiple bruises on her head and scarring on her neck.

The child was initially taken to Presbyterian Hospital before being transferred to UNMH for further care, according to a news release from Franchesca Perdue, spokesperson for the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department.

Molina told a healthcare worker that the child 鈥� identified in court records as AS 鈥� was leaning off a couch when she fell face-first into a glass desk and lost consciousness, the complaint states.

Molina told officers AS was "accident prone" and frequently fell, according to the complaint. Molina said she had done research online and believed the bruises were caused by a vitamin deficiency.

Medical staff reported the child received CPR and raised concerns that the baby's injuries were inconsistent with Molina's story, according to the complaint.

Officers arrived and spoke with Molina, who said she had returned home from grocery shopping around 6:30 p.m. and she heard crying in the living room, the complaint states.

Molina told police that when she went to pick the child up, AS was not breathing, which prompted her to bring the child to a hospital.

Officers spoke with a UNMH doctor who reported the child had "multiple bruises to her forehead, body and buttocks and that she sustained a skull fracture on the back of her head," according to the complaint. Additionally, doctors told police that the child was experiencing multiorgan damage due to the "life-threatening head injury," the complaint states.

Medical staff said there was no indication the child was predisposed to any conditions that would have caused the bruises and said she was not developmentally capable of self-inflicting the injuries, according to the complaint.

Doctors told police they did not believe the child would survive the night due to the severity of her injuries, the complaint states. 

"Additional traumatic injuries as described are diagnostic of physical abuse, including multiple impact abusive head trauma," doctors wrote in an evaluation. "Should she survive, she is at high risk for significant long-term neurodevelopmental disabilities associated with traumatic brain injury."

On May 29, police were told that Molina had taken her child off of life support around 3:55 p.m., according to the complaint.

Jake Thompson, spokesperson for CYFD, said the department had "prior incidents" with Molina regarding her other children from 2019 to 2025, though Thompson said CYFD investigations state the neglect allegations were unsubstantiated.

"Throughout CYFD鈥檚 involvement with Ms. Molina and her other children, the family was receiving early intervention services for the children, and the mother was in counseling services," Thompson said. "Currently, there are no other children in the home; they are living with family members."

In February 2020, CYFD received allegations that Molina was neglecting her children "due to inadequate" shelter, which the department substantiated. CYFD connected the family to services, Thompson said.

"The department also made a referral to Hope Works for housing for the family and for childcare to include daycare and after-school programming for the siblings," he said.

The Office of the Medical Investigator is conducting an autopsy to determine the official cause of death.

Nakayla McClelland covers crime and breaking news. Reach her at nmcclelland@abqjournal.com or at 505-823-3857.