Thursday, December 31, 2015
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A man charged with felonious assault after his 2-month-old son was injured tearfully waived a preliminary hearing Wednesday in municipal court – just hours after learning the boy died.
Bond was continued for John Albino Serrano, 31, of South Garland Avenue, who was arraigned Dec. 23 on a charge of felonious assault for injuries the boy suffered Dec. 15 in his home.
Albino Serrano was sobbing while waiting for his case to be called by visiting Judge Richard Reimbold and as he consulted with his lawyer, John Juhasz.
Capt. Brad Blackburn, chief of detectives, said he is waiting for the Summit County Coroner’s Office to issue a cause of death before any charges are upgraded. The autopsy will be per- formed there because the baby died in Akron Children’s Hospital, where he was being treated for his injuries after being transferred from Akron Children’s Hospital at Boardman, where he originally was taken.
Police were called there about 11 a.m. Dec. 15 by hospital staff after the baby was brought in by an ambulance. Hospital staff told police the baby had injuries to his brain, reports said.
Albino Serrano and the child’s mother were present. Reports said Albino Serrano told police he was feeding the baby when the baby stopped breathing and became unresponsive. Albino Serrano told police he then woke up his wife, who called an ambulance to take the child to the hospital.
Court records show Albino Serrano later admitted to police he shook the baby.
The case was investigated by the department’s Family Investigative Services Unit.
Court records show Albino Serrano has only one previous charge: driving under suspension in 2014.
As he was led to an elevator by police after his hearing was over, Albino Serrano said something tearfully in Spanish to a woman before he was taken away.
The death of Albino Serrano’s son is the second homicide of an infant this year. On Jan. 30, Mekhi Dawson, 4 months, was found unresponsive in an East Side day-care center and later died. His death was ruled a homicide by blunt-force trauma to the head. The owner of the day care was charged with aggravated murder in June, but entered an Alford Plea in November to a charge of involuntary manslaughter, a felony, and a misdemeanor count of child endangering. An Alford Plea means a defendant maintains innocence but admits there is enough evidence for a reasonable person to conclude that they may be guilty. She was sentenced to probation.
If the 2-month-old baby’s death is ruled a homicide, it would be the 23rd of the year for the city. In 2014, the city recorded 19 homicides.
This year, the November death of a man who was found in a burning car on Otis Street that was being treated as a homicide is no longer considered a homicide. A final ruling on that case still has not been reached.