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WEST JORDAN — The grandmother of a 2-month-old boy has now been charged with abusing the infant by not properly feeding him. Charges against the baby’s mother were filed last week.
Virginia Teresa Arellano, 68, of West Jordan, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony. Last week, her daughter — Emmylou Teresa Arellano, 41 — was charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse, a second-degree felony.
Emmylou Arellano took her 2-month-old boy to a children’s clinic on March 27, where doctors noticed the boy was “malnourished and running a fever.” The boy was then taken to Primary Children’s Hospital where one officer said the boy “was so skinny that he could see the shape of his bones under his skin,” and another officer noted that “every rib bone in (the boy) was visible,” according to charging documents.
“Virginia Teresa Arellano stated that she had purchased one can of formula once a month or once every month and a half,” while Virginia Arellano “stated that she had not purchased any formula,” charging documents state. Doctors told police that the boy should be going through one can of formula about every five days.
Medical staff also told detectives that the boy “weighed 7 pounds at birth and was now currently 5 pounds,” according to the charges.
Virginia Arellano told police that she helped care for her grandson when the boy’s mother was sleeping or busy. But despite caring for him “on a regular basis,” prosecutors say she “failed to seek appropriate help for him.”
Doctors with Safe and Healthy Families determined the boy qualified as “near-fatal malnourished,” according to charging documents.
