Father of fatally injured Gustine infant left boy’s side, paramedic says

A paramedic who responded to a Gustine home where a 9-month-old lay fatally injured testified in court Tuesday that the boy’s father, who is on trial for murder and child cruelty, was in another room when she arrived.

Jennifer Rocha said she was dispatched to the Cottonwood Road home on March 5, 2015, on a report of a child in cardiac arrest. While she was en route, the call changed to a report of a child experiencing a seizure, she said.

Rocha, a paramedic for Westside Ambulance, said that she arrived at the home and was preparing to enter it when Rebecca Ramsour, the boy’s mother, drove up to the house and ran inside.

Rocha said she found Maddix Ramsour lying near the front entryway posturing, a term describing as repetitive, rhythmic movement of the limbs, which indicated the infant suffered a head injury.

The boy’s father, Andrew Sanchez, was in another room, pacing, Rocha said.

Defense attorney Stephanie Jamieson of the Merced County Public Defender’s Office noted that, in her reports and interviews with sheriff’s deputies, Rocha didn’t say where Sanchez was during the incident. Jamieson also said Sanchez was still on the phone with 911.

“In my reports I don’t write my opinion or how I feel someone reacted,” Rocha said. “The fact that nobody was with the child when I walked in, I felt that was not normal.”

Sanchez maintains Maddix was injured when he rolled off of a 2-foot-high bed during a diaper change. The boy died later at a hospital.

Sanchez is accused of murder and child cruelty in the child’s death. He has pleaded not guilty.

The trial will continue at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday in Merced Superior Court.

This story was originally published April 4, 2017 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Father of fatally injured Gustine infant left boy’s side, paramedic says."