An East Chicago man faces 16 years after he admitted he caused his two-month-old son’s death in 2022.
Eric Rangel, 28, pleaded guilty in court Friday to aggravated battery, a Level 3 felony.
Judge Gina Jones accepted the plea deal. Rangel’s sentencing is Nov. 8.
Rangel’s co-defendant Sandra Sosa faces a neglect trial on Nov. 12.
Court records allege the child died from a “massive head injury” with shaken baby syndrome as a “contributing factor.” He was also malnourished, an affidavit alleges.
Police were called July 7, 2022 to St. Catherine’s Hospital after the boy, Eric Rangel III, was pronounced dead.
Lake County Coroner’s Office Forensic Pathologist Dr. Zhuo Wang ruled the death was a homicide.
The child had signs of “massive” brain bleeding and a “diffused” brain injury due to “blunt force trauma.”
He had bruising on his left forehead, scattered cuts on his chin and right ear. There were more signs of brain bleeding near his left forehead and elsewhere. The child also had signs of retinal hemorrhaging, according to court records.
Rangel said the boy seemed fine when he put him in a bouncy chair at 7 a.m. After a formula feeding, the baby started to cough and had trouble breathing, he said.
When he carried the boy to the front of the house, the child “grunted” and “went limp,” according to the affidavit. Rangel woke up Sosa and they called 911.
Sosa told an Indiana Department of Child Services caseworker the boy hadn’t been to the doctor since he was born.
