Dad charged with injuring baby had previous family violence case dismissed

BEXAR COUNTY, Texas – A couple facing charges related to injuries their 4-month-old daughter suffered had been involved in a previous domestic violence case that was dismissed earlier this week.

Court records show Jacobo Jimenez Sanchez, 26, was arrested by San Antonio police back in April.

A police report states that Andrea Mena, the 26-year-old mother of his four children, accused him of hurting her and their children.

Parents arrested for injury to 4-month-old child, BCSO says

However, records show that the case was dismissed on July 8, two days before the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office arrested the couple in connection with a child injury case.

A clerk at the County Court-at-Law #7 office told KSAT 12 News Thursday morning that she could not disclose why that previous case was dismissed.

In this latest case, Sanchez is charged with injury to a child, while the charge against Mena is endangering a child.

According to Sheriff Javier Salazar, the couple had brought their 4-month-old daughter to a hospital twice in May for treatment of persistent vomiting.

On the second visit, hospital staff noticed the infant girl had suffered a head injury, Salazar said.

“A CT scan revealed that there was brain bleeding, and doctors also noted that, since this baby’s last visit, there had been no weight gain,” Salazar said.

From there, he said, multiple agencies began constructing a plan to ensure the safety of all the couple’s children.

The sheriff’s office also launched an investigation into what happened to the baby at their home, located near Macdona in Southwest Bexar County.

Salazar said investigators ended up talking to the couple’s other children, and one of them told a disturbing story.

“He had observed the dad, Jacobo, throw the baby on the floor, and blood came from her head,” Salazar said.

The sheriff said it appeared the family lived in a home with various other relatives. He said someone in the home had to have known what was going on.

“If myself, or the sheriff’s office, has any say-so in it, I’d just as soon nobody in this family has access to these babies, these children,” Salazar said.

A sheriff’s spokesman told KSAT 12 News Thursday morning that the infant has been released from the hospital, although Salazar indicated that her injuries could be life-long.

All four children are now in the custody of Child Protective Services, according to a spokesperson with the state Department of Family and Protective Services.