Sheriff Reveals Details In Death of Monterey County Infant, 14-Year-Old Allegedly Drove Over It

The 14-year-old who became impregnated by her own father in Monterey County allegedly acted alone in killing the newborn by the side of a road in Moss Landing, and the county sheriff has now shared more details in the tragic case.

After 38-year-old Sergio Galvez Perez was located and arrested, with his daughter, in Mexico last weekend, Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto was careful to say that his 14-year-old daughter Diana Galvez Ortega was also a victim and had been "rescued," not arrested — whereas earlier in the investigation the sheriff's office said the 14-year-old was also wanted for murder. Nieto also announced that a press conference on the case would be forthcoming.

On Thursday, that press conference occurred. Nieto and the investigative team for the first time laid out the timeline of events that surrounded the discovery of the infant, who's being referred to as "Baby Angelita," and who was found by the side of the road in Moss Landing — a town between Santa Cruz and Monterey — on August 1. The sheriff's office did not begin publicizing the case until a month later, as they began seeking the public's help in locating Perez and the girl, who were believed to be on the run.

"I know everyone has been been following this, and this has been a very emotional case for our county, and for the public that has been watching this," Sheriff Nieto said at the outset of the event.

Referring to it as a "very, very difficult case," Nieto praised her detectives, saying "their commitment never wavered, even as the case became increasingly complex and crossed international borders." And Nieto said she and the department decided to share more information today because of the public outcry over the case and the criticism levied against her department — likely referring to the early talk of the 14-year-old being a suspect.

"Our responsibility as law enforcement is to get the facts right, even when the public understandably wants answers sooner," Nieto said. And, she added, it was "important to recognize that this case involves a 14-year-old girl who, herself, was the victim of very serious crimes."

Nieto went on to explain that, while there were some details her department still could not release, she wanted to update the public about what investigators now believe occurred surrounding the death of Baby Angelita.

The daughter, Diana, had reportedly worked as a farmworker alongside her parents since the age of 13, and had been given a car of her own to drive to work, despite only being 14, a beige Mercury sedan registered to her parents. Investigators believe that after becoming pregnant by her own father, Diana had managed to hide the pregnancy from her mother, and Perez had possibly encouraged this as well.

Investigators say she was by herself when she gave birth, without medical assistance, and Perez was somewhere in the SF Bay Area at the time.

She reportedly gave birth by a road that borders one of the fields where she and her mother worked, and time card evidence confirms that they were at work that morning.

Detective Richard Geng explained that the child was found with severe "crush-type trauma" and tire marks on it, not far from a large blood stain where they believe the birth took place. This led detectives to determine that the baby had been moved under the tire of the vehicle before it was crushed.

Geng said that Diana had been found hiding under a pile of clothes in a bedroom when detectives served a search warrant at the Salinas home of Perez and his wife, Ofelia Garcia Ortega. When she was initially questioned, she said she had had sexual relations with an unidentified juvenile male, leading to the pregnancy.

Investigators would later find, after seizing the family's cellphones, that the 14-year-old had allegedly texted her father on August 1 around noon, about four hours after the birth occurred. "Dad!" she reportedly wrote in Spanish. "I couldn’t hold it anymore and the baby came out. I hid it … because my mom was going to see me with it, and she was going to kill me."

Diana was taken to a hospital for an examination on August 2, and checked in to be treated after the recent birth. On August 4, detectives learned that Perez had removed her from the hospital prior to being discharged.

A county judge subsequently issued a Ramey warrant on August 11 for the 14-year-old, allowing for her arrest without prior review by the DA's office. It would be another week before DNA evidence would show investigators that Perez was the biological father of his own grandchild. A Ramey warrant was then issued for Perez, and other family members were re-interviewed — yielding no new information, Geng said. It would be another couple of weeks before authorities issued an Amber Alert, and before investigators determined that father and daughter had fled to Mexico.

A tip given to a journalist reportedly helped locate the pair.

"What happened in this case is nothing short of horrific," said FBI Special Agent in Charge Scott Schelble at the press conference. "It shocked us all." Schelble added, "It became clear that a 14-year-old victim endured unimaginable abuse."

Ortega, the mother, remains in custody on child endangerment charges, and authorities expect Perez to be extradited to face incest and child abuse charges, though it was said earlier that he was also set to be charged with murder.

Agent Schelble said he was uncertain when asked if the 14-year-old would be removed from Mexico as well.

Previously: Father and Teen Daughter He Allegedly Impregnated Located In Mexico