Mother, boyfriend face prison for infant’s death
RANCHO CUCAMONGA — Elizabeth Reta, 31, and her boyfriend, 35-year-old Juan Antonio Sanchez, recently pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in the death of eight-month-old Samuel Reta.
The infant died when his mother swabbed his nose with a Q-tip laced with methamphetamine. According to police reports, Sanchez then beat the child to try and get him off his high. He died Aug. 31, 2007, one day after his mother and Sanchez were arrested.
The couple entered their no-contest pleas Sept. 24.
San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Jason Anderson offered the accepted plea deals to both defendants. Reta, of Ontario, got a plea bargain that carries an 11-year sentence. Sanchez, who is from Pomona, was sentenced to 27 years. Anderson said Sanchez had a prior robbery conviction that was taken into account. Reta is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 21 in West Valley Superior Court.
Original police reports say that in August 2007, Reta reported that she swabbed her son’s itchy nose with a Q-tip in their Ontario home on South Euclid Ave. The boy began behaving strangely, Reta reportedly told Sanchez. He called her “stupid” and told her he used the swabs he uses to clean the methamphetamine pipe, according to reports.
Sanchez repeatedly spanked, slapped and threw the boy on the floor, then tied him to a bed, reports said. Reta contacted the paramedics, though Sanchez ordered her not to for fear that police would arrest him on drug-related charges.
When Samuel Reta was finally hospitalized, he went into a coma and suffered from pneumonia. Reports say the infant had a broken arm, broken rib, an apparent bite mark on his arm and injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome.
“That’s the kind of case that doesn’t get enough publicity just to let the public know what’s going on,” said Fontana police officer D. Locey. “Abuse, physical or otherwise, is one of the biggest crimes we face on a daily basis. The media pretty much concentrates on drug cases, murder cases, the sensationalized cases.”
