Prosecutors: Zion boy had been previously abused before fatal beating
The mother of a 5-month-old Zion boy who was murdered last week has told authorities the child had been abused more than once before the latest attack, prosecutors said Monday.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ken LaRue said Aurora Escamilla, 19, the mother of Ayden Salinas, admitted to police before her bond appearance Friday that the abuse of her baby had been going on for the last couple of months.
However, Escamilla had not reported it to police, nor did she do anything to remove the child from the Zion home, LaRue said.
Ayden was pronounced dead at Vista East Medical Center in Waukegan early Thursday morning after the child suffered a nearly inch-long crack to the top of his skull, LaRue said.
Victor Salinas-Corona, 17, of the 2600 block of Horeb Avenue in Zion, was charged Friday with two counts of first-degree murder in the boy’s death. He remains in Lake County jail in lieu of $2 million bond.
LaRue said Salinas-Corona became enraged because the baby wouldn’t stop crying about 9 p.m. Wednesday, so he slammed the baby’s head into a steel crib frame.
About 4 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, Zion police and fire responded to the 2600 block of Horeb Avenue because the boy was not breathing. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy Thursday revealed the crack in the baby’s skull, prompting prosecutors to charge the father with the murder Friday morning.
Salinas-Corona was also charged with one count of illegal possession of a firearm, and a single count of possession of a firearm without a FOID card.
Escamilla was charged with child endangerment for willfully allowing the child to be placed in circumstances that endangered his life, court records show.
She was freed from jail after posting the required 10 percent of her $100,000 bond.
Both Escamilla and Salinas-Corona are due back in court for a preliminary hearing on March 6 in front of Judge John Phillips.