California authorities are searching for a 14-year-old girl and her father after the death of a newborn whose body was found alongside a rural Monterey County road. Authorities believe the father is also the father of the baby who was found dead. According to the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, the newborn, whom investigators have named "Baby Angelita," was found dead on August 1 near Moss Landing.
Authorities allege that the baby's mother, the 14-year-old girl, gave birth on the side of the road before leaving the infant behind. A forensic examination later found signs of traumatic injury. "She was a newborn child whose life was tragically taken," Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said at a press conference.
"When a child is killed, when someone is raped, when a violent offender is moving through our community, minutes and hours matter." Nieto announced that 38-year-old Sergio Galvez Perez is the biological father of the teenage girl and Baby Angelita. Authorities allege that Perez sexually abused his daughter and are seeking his arrest on multiple felony charges, while the teenager faces a murder charge in connection with the infant's death. Flock cameras helped investigators in the case and Andres Roses, a public information officer for the Monterey County Sheriff's Office, told Newsweek it's an example of why the police department needs access to the controversial cameras.
The case began on the morning of August 1, when firefighters, emergency medical personnel and sheriff's deputies responded to the 100 block of Struve Road in north Monterey County after receiving reports of a newborn found along the roadside. The infant was pronounced dead at the scene. Investigators later named the child "Baby Angelita," meaning "Baby Angel" in Spanish.
According to authorities, evidence gathered during a weeks-long investigation indicated that a juvenile female gave birth beside the road and placed the newborn on the ground before leaving the area. A postmortem forensic examination found signs of traumatic injury, though investigators have not publicly disclosed the exact nature of those injuries due to the ongoing investigation. Authorities have not released additional details about how the infant died or how long she may have survived after being born.
Perez, 38, is a resident of the Castroville and Salinas area of Monterey County and is now the subject of a multi-agency manhunt. Authorities allege that he impregnated his daughter through years of sexual abuse. Investigators have confirmed he is the biological father of the 14-year-old girl and the deceased infant.
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