FULLERTON, Calif. (AP) A 31-year-old father was in custody
Thursday for investigation of beating his 2{-year-old daughter to
death, police said.
Salvador Davila was arrested Wednesday and held on $1 million
bail, said Sgt. Ron Gillet.
A decision by Orange County prosecutors on whether to file
charges was pending.
Police were alerted to the girl's injuries by paramedics
responding Wednesday night to a call from Davila's apartment, where
someone had reported the toddler was not breathing.
Miranda Davila had a pulse and was taken to Anaheim Memorial
Hospital, where doctors determined she had numerous injuries to her
head and other parts of her body, Gillet said.
``They were injuries consistent with child abuse,'' he said.
She was transferred to a pediatric intensive care unit at UC
Irvine Medical Center and pronounced dead about 9 a.m. Thursday.
Davila allegedly told detectives he shoved one of his sons into
the girl and that he did not intentionally harm her.
The girl's mother, Tonia Fernandez, 29, was questioned by police
and released. The couple's three other children, ranging in age
from 1 to 5, were in protective custody.
(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)