Phone tip leads to arrest

A phone tip to police led to the arrest of a 42-year-old man Wednesday in connection with the October 2004 death of an infant left in his care at a Clovis motel, according to a press release from the 9th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

Leroy “Roy” Jaramillo surrendered to police at an undisclosed city residence after talking by phone to a member of the district’s special response team, the release said.

Jaramillo is charged with child abuse resulting in death and faces a maximum of 18 years in prison if convicted, according to District Attorney Matt Chandler.

Jaramillo is being held on a $100,000 cash-only bond at the Curry County Adult Detention Center.

Cristyan Ibarra died Oct. 15, 2004, at Covenant Medical Center in Lubbock from brain hemorrhaging and other closed-head injuries, officials have said.

Ibarra’s mother, Maria Ibarra, took her son to Plains Regional Medical Center and told the doctor he fell off the bed onto the floor at a Clovis motel and was having seizures, according to a warrant issued Nov. 9 for Jaramillo’s arrest.

The physician later called police to file a child abuse report because the child’s injuries indicated he had been shaken, not that he had fallen from the bed, the warrant said.

Maria Ibarra told police Cristyan was healthy when she left the baby with Jaramillo while she picked up diapers. She said Jaramillo called her and told her to return to the motel because he was scared the baby had fallen from the bed and was throwing up, the warrant said.

An autopsy by the Lubbock County Medical examiner determined the baby’s death was a homicide, according to the arrest warrant.