NORTHAMPTON — A Hampshire County Superior Court judge on Monday rejected an involuntary manslaughter guilty plea from a man who allegedly orally administered an adult sleeping pill in September 2019 to his infant son, who later died.
While Isaac Villalobos, also known as Angel Carattini-Rivera, 35, formerly of Amherst, offered the plea to a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in state prison, Judge Richard J. Carey on Monday turned down what he said would be a “quantum leap” from the evidence prosecutors presented to meet the burden of showing that Villalobos had engaged in involuntary manslaughter, which under state law is the “unlawful killing by wanton and reckless conduct.”
Carey said such conduct is defined by the law as knowing there is a high degree of likelihood that a person’s actions would cause substantial harm to another, something that may not have been the case in the actions of Villalobos. Carey added that the court has an obligation to find facts sufficient for a guilty finding.
The case was continued to Dec. 28 for a status hearing.
In exchange for Villalobos waiving the right to trial by jury or a judge, Assistant District Attorney Andrew Covington said the guilty plea would have meant dropping three charges, including assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury, reckless endangerment of a child, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a child under 14.
“The defendant knew his conduct was reckless,” Covington said. “He knew he shouldn’t have given a 4-month-old infant adult sleep medication.”
The incident occurred in the early morning hours of Sept. 15, 2019, when Villalobos called 911 from a home at 693 Main St. Emergency personnel responded to a report of an infant who was blue in the face and not breathing. While five other children were at home at the time, and the family had gone out for a late night meal at McDonald’s around 11 p.m., the boy’s mother was working an overnight shift at a convenience store in Easthampton.
The baby was pronounced dead at Cooley Dickinson Hospital and a medical examiner ruled later that he died from acute doxylamine intoxication. That prompted a three-year investigation which revealed that Villalobos had crushed at least one Equate brand sleep aid, dissolved it in water and then used an infant syringe to feed the infant the medication.
Covington said Villalobos lied to police and investigators and also knew what he did was wrong, shown, in part, by the challenges they had in finding him during the investigation.
“Investigators had difficulty locating him because he’s an undocumented immigrant,” Covington said, adding that he also used an alias.
After the indictment in July, an arrest warrant was issued for Villalobos in all 50 states and he was located in Bel Air, Maryland. He promptly returned for an arraignment.
When Carey asked if what Covington presented in court was factually accurate, Villalobos said it was. “Yes, your honor, 100% true,” Villalobos said.
Alan Rubin, the defense attorney for Villalobos, said the guilty plea was coming fairly early in the process because his client wants to move on.
“He wished to go forward today,” Rubin said. “I think that’s a reasonable decision.”
On top of any potential prison sentence, there is also possible additional consequence of deportation from the United States due to Villalobos being an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador.
“Under the circumstances, he wants this to end,” Rubin said.