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Villalobos, who also goes by the name Angel M. Carattini-Rivera, is accused of using an infant syringe to give his baby boy a lethal dose of adult sleeping medication, the Northwestern District Attorney said. The former Amherst resident pleaded not guilty in July to charges of manslaughter, assault and battery on a child causing substantial injury, reckless endangerment of a child, and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on a child under 14.
Villalobos' lawyer, Alan Rubin, told Judge Richard Carey that his client wanted to change his plea to give the victim's family closure, MassLive reported from the courtroom. But the judge wasn't satisfied with the prosecution's case.
“In the evidence presented to the court, this defendant took a single pill — clearly not designed for a 4-month-old — dissolved it, and gave it to the infant,” Carey said, per MassLive. But calling it involuntary manslaughter would be a "quantum leap" based on the evidence, the report continued.
An autopsy ruled the child died of acute doxylamine intoxication in the early hours of Sept. 15, 2019, the prosecutor's office said. Doxylamine is an over-the-count medicine used to treat insomnia, and the prosecution alleges that Villalobos intentionally gave the medication to the child.
The district attorney's office spent three years building its case against Villalobos. Investigators in Maryland arrested him over the summer and brought him back to Massachusetts to face charges. He is being held on a $250,000 bail.
Villalobos is expected to return to court on Dec. 28, court records show.
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