Port Arthur man indicted in death of 1-year-old girl

Published 5:50 pm Wednesday, July 26, 2023

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A Port Arthur man is being held on $500,000 bond in connection with the death of a 1-year-old girl.

Gonzalo Alvarado, 24, was indicted Wednesday by a Jefferson County grand jury on a felony charge of injury to a child.

According to the probable cause affidavit, Port Arthur Police Department officers were called July 2 to a home in the 2100 block of Canal Street regarding an unresponsive 1-year-old female.

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READ MORE — Father of Port Arthur toddler seeks answers about her death; 1 suspect arrested.

Emergency personnel pronounced the child dead at the scene.

The child reportedly had injuries to her face, which appeared to be skin abrasions.

The mother and her boyfriend were on scene and later interviewed.

The mother told police the facial injuries were not on the child’s face the night before she put her to bed.

The boyfriend, identified as Alvarado, reportedly told police he attempted to put the child to bed because she was fussy and she had started crying. He wrapped the child in a blanket, binding her extremities before putting her to bed. He told police he found her face down in bed unresponsive and still wrapped in the blanket and they called 9-1-1.

According to the court document, Alvarado said he was the only person who tended to the child during the night and also confirmed the child did not have facial injuries before he put her to bed.

He initially told police he did not know what happened to the child.

An autopsy was performed and showed the child had blunt trauma to the forehead and back of the head.

Alvarado was interviewed by police a second time and he allegedly stated he dropped the child from his chest level onto the bed and the child’s head hit the corner of the bed.

Alvarado was arrested July 5 on the charge. He remains in the county jail as of Wednesday.

An indictment is not a final conviction of guilt; it is only a ruling by the grand jury that allows the district attorney’s office to proceed with a criminal case.