Shaken baby murder trial opens in DuPage

An Aurora man charged with murdering his infant daughter killed her because he was unhappy with his life and wanted to move back to Mexico, prosecutors alleged in court Tuesday.

Joel Z. Chavez, 28, is accused of repeatedly shaking 5-month-old Julyssa and throwing her onto a bed in January 2009 after she became fussy with a bottle.

In opening statements of his trial in DuPage County, prosecutors said Chavez was frustrated with his life and intentionally took it out on the child, who died a day later of multiple injuries consistent with child abuse.

“(Chavez) was unemployed, he wanted out of his marriage, and he wanted to move back to Mexico,” Assistant State’s Attorney Joe Lindt said. “Five-month-old Julyssa was keeping him here.”

But defense attorney Steven Muslin contended that Chavez was a “good, caring father” who was only trying to get the baby to stop crying long enough to be fed.

He said his client could have fled the area immediately after the infant was hurt, but he chose to stay and cooperate with authorities instead.

“He wasn’t forced to be here. He wasn’t trapped here,” Muslin said. “He was excited when he learned (his wife) was pregnant with Julyssa.”

Authorities found the child unresponsive and barely breathing the morning of Jan. 12, 2009, after the girl’s mother called 911.

Lupe Chavez testified she had left Julyssa and another daughter home alone with her husband while she took her 14-year-old son to a dentist appointment in Chicago.

“She had a big smile” the last time Chavez saw Julyssa, she said.

Shortly after leaving for the appointment, Chavez said, her husband called and told her “something’s wrong with Julyssa.”

After several calls back and forth, she said, she called for an ambulance.

Prosecutors said Julyssa had severe head injuries, brain swelling, and fractured arms and ribs. There also were signs of prior abuse, they said.

In a statement to police, Joel Chavez admitted pulling the child off a bed by an arm and then throwing her back down when she refused to take her bottle, prosecutors said.

He told investigators Julyssa’s head may have struck a wall along the bed during the episode, which he re-enacted on video, authorities said.

But Muslin said the injuries may have been caused when Chavez performed CPR chest compressions incorrectly on the infant after “tossing” her onto the bed and then realizing she was hurt.

“He had no intent to injure his child,” Muslin said.

Chavez, an illegal immigrant, faces 20 to 60 years in prison if convicted of murder. He has been held in the county jail on $2 million bail since his arrest more than two years ago.

The bench trial before Judge George Bakalis resumes Wednesday.