06-17-2008, 03:40 PM
Turlock, CA, June 16, 2008 - Shortly after 10:00 p.m. on Saturday night, a 27-year-old man stopped his pickup truck on the side of an unlit country road between Modesto and Turlock in California. The man then took a baby out of the vehicle, removed the infant from his car seat, and proceeded to beat and stomp the child to death. Witnesses were unable to stop the man, who was covered in the baby’s blood, until a Modesto police officer dropped in on the scene by helicopter. When it was readily apparent that the suspect was not going to stop killing the baby, the police officer shot and killed the suspect in hopes of saving the child.
Sadly, the baby boy died on the way to the hospital, gravely injured and drowning in his own blood.
Witnesses called 911just after 10:00 p.m., but their cell phone reception was bad and they weren’t able to give a precise address. It took another 911 call and a few minutes for police to get a good location of the assault and get officers headed to the scene, which was adjacent to a dairy farm in a very rural area with no lighting. Meanwhile, at least two witnesses tried to stop the attack, but were shaken off as the man repeatedly slammed the baby into the asphalt on the side of the road.
“In the shadows and light it looked like he had hit an animal,” said volunteer fire chief Dan Robinson. He was driving home from a late dinner and came upon the scene. “As we backed up again, I could see that he had blood on his arms. I could see that it was a small child.”
Robinson jumped out of his own vehicle and confronted the man, who lunged at him. Robinson said the man “wasn’t screaming and wasn’t loud, but was forceful”, saying “demons” were in the boy. The attacker hardly even slowed down, but grabbed Robinson’s shirt and tried to take a pen out of his pocket, repeating “Give me the knife… give me the knife.” (I think I’d have given the guy a big rock to the back of the head, but that’s just me.)
The attacker continued to punch, stomp, kick, beat and slam the baby into the pavement as officers arrived. A Stanislaus County Sheriff’s helicopter was carrying a Modesto Police tactical officer, who was dropped to the ground so he could get close to the suspect. As the officer witnessed the attack, he ordered the suspect to stop beating the infant, but the suspect continued to kill the child, so the tactical officer did the only thing he could do - he killed the suspect back, shooting the babykiller as he continued to try to land punches on the infant.
Investigators believe they know who the baby is, but will need to do DNA comparison because of the state of the child’s body. The victim was a boy, between twelve and 24 months old. At least one report suggests that the killer may have been the baby’s father. Happy Father’s Day… not.
Update 6/17/08 - The babykiller has been identified as Sergio Aguiar, 27, of Turlock. The victim was his son, also called Sergio, who was born May 8, 2006 and had just turned two years old. Sergio and his wife, Frances Liliana Casian, a kindergarten teacher, are separated and live in different apartments in the same complex. It appears that the baby was on a Father’s Day weekend visit with his dad when he was killed.
The officer who fired on Aguiar is Modesto Police Officer Jerry Ramar, a force veteran and flight officer who made the shot at long range within two minutes of landing. “I have never seen anything like that before and I hope I never have to again, ” Ramar says.
On landing at 10:17, Officer Ramar ordered Aguiar to put his hands up and step away from the baby. Aguiar’s response was to flip Ramar the bird and proceed to kick baby Sergio “like a soccer ball”. Ramar fired striking the subject in the forehead, and by 10:20, Aguiar wasn’t kicking anyone anymore. Unfortunately, Sergio was completely limp and unable to be revived.
Investigators say that the amount of blood inside the truck indicates that baby Sergio had probably suffered fatal injuries before being removed from the vehicle.
Sadly, the baby boy died on the way to the hospital, gravely injured and drowning in his own blood.
Witnesses called 911just after 10:00 p.m., but their cell phone reception was bad and they weren’t able to give a precise address. It took another 911 call and a few minutes for police to get a good location of the assault and get officers headed to the scene, which was adjacent to a dairy farm in a very rural area with no lighting. Meanwhile, at least two witnesses tried to stop the attack, but were shaken off as the man repeatedly slammed the baby into the asphalt on the side of the road.
“In the shadows and light it looked like he had hit an animal,” said volunteer fire chief Dan Robinson. He was driving home from a late dinner and came upon the scene. “As we backed up again, I could see that he had blood on his arms. I could see that it was a small child.”
Robinson jumped out of his own vehicle and confronted the man, who lunged at him. Robinson said the man “wasn’t screaming and wasn’t loud, but was forceful”, saying “demons” were in the boy. The attacker hardly even slowed down, but grabbed Robinson’s shirt and tried to take a pen out of his pocket, repeating “Give me the knife… give me the knife.” (I think I’d have given the guy a big rock to the back of the head, but that’s just me.)
The attacker continued to punch, stomp, kick, beat and slam the baby into the pavement as officers arrived. A Stanislaus County Sheriff’s helicopter was carrying a Modesto Police tactical officer, who was dropped to the ground so he could get close to the suspect. As the officer witnessed the attack, he ordered the suspect to stop beating the infant, but the suspect continued to kill the child, so the tactical officer did the only thing he could do - he killed the suspect back, shooting the babykiller as he continued to try to land punches on the infant.
Investigators believe they know who the baby is, but will need to do DNA comparison because of the state of the child’s body. The victim was a boy, between twelve and 24 months old. At least one report suggests that the killer may have been the baby’s father. Happy Father’s Day… not.
Update 6/17/08 - The babykiller has been identified as Sergio Aguiar, 27, of Turlock. The victim was his son, also called Sergio, who was born May 8, 2006 and had just turned two years old. Sergio and his wife, Frances Liliana Casian, a kindergarten teacher, are separated and live in different apartments in the same complex. It appears that the baby was on a Father’s Day weekend visit with his dad when he was killed.
The officer who fired on Aguiar is Modesto Police Officer Jerry Ramar, a force veteran and flight officer who made the shot at long range within two minutes of landing. “I have never seen anything like that before and I hope I never have to again, ” Ramar says.
On landing at 10:17, Officer Ramar ordered Aguiar to put his hands up and step away from the baby. Aguiar’s response was to flip Ramar the bird and proceed to kick baby Sergio “like a soccer ball”. Ramar fired striking the subject in the forehead, and by 10:20, Aguiar wasn’t kicking anyone anymore. Unfortunately, Sergio was completely limp and unable to be revived.
Investigators say that the amount of blood inside the truck indicates that baby Sergio had probably suffered fatal injuries before being removed from the vehicle.