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Babysitter charged in death of baby

Posted at 3:53 PM, Jan 31, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-31 19:41:11-05

A babysitter is accused in connection to the death of an infant in Gatesville.

A Coryell County District Attorney news release said the Coryell County Sheriff's Office and the Texas Rangers worked together to arrest Dennis Richard Santillanes, 29, Tuesday. He is charged with child serious bodily injury, a second-degree felony.

Investigators said Santillanes's girlfriend started to drive the baby to the hospital on Jan. 26, but transferred him to an ambulance or police car along the way.

Doctors pronounced the baby dead shortly after he arrived at Coryell Memorial Hospital.

So far the Coryell County Sheriff's Office and the District Attorney's office have not not released the baby's name or age. However, Scott's Funeral Home in Gatesville posted an obituary for 11-month-old, Daniel Bryan Cooper, who passed away on the same day and place as the infant in the news release.

Investigators said Santillanes told them he accidentally dropped the baby and hit the child's head on a door frame at a home in Oglesby. He, however, did not reveal those details until later when investigators asked him about the boy's death. When his girlfriend returned from work after an overnight shift that day, investigators said Santillanes left to run errands. She had to take the baby to the hospital shortly afterward.

An autopsy at the Southwest Institute of Forensic Science in Dallas showed the child had several injuries and bruises on his body, and face including a skull fracture, according to the news release.

News Channel 25 is working on getting the arrest affidavit to get more information on this case.

A Celebration of Life service will be held for Daniel Bryan Cooper at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Scott’s Funeral Home.

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