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Nov 01, 2024

Court documents: Teen charged in baby's death left him unattended in bathtub for several minutes | Crime | wkow.com

Digital Content Manager Chad Thompson was hired as the Digital Content Manager at WKOWin July of 2023. Thompson came to southern Wisconsin from DesMoines, Iowa, where he worked as a Digital Editor at

Digital Content Manager

Chad Thompson was hired as the Digital Content Manager at WKOWin July of 2023. Thompson came to southern Wisconsin from DesMoines, Iowa, where he worked as a Digital Editor at KCCI 8 News.He began his career in journalism as a reporter for a dailynewspaper in central Iowa. Download the27 New Now app and 27 Storm Track app here

Milleydi Esmeralda Alfaro Rizo

MADISON (WKOW) — The 18-year-old woman charged in the death of a baby boy left him unattended in a bathtub full of water for several minutes, according to the criminal complaint.

Mileydi Esmeralda Alfaro Rizo is charged with neglecting a child - consequence is death, a class D felony.

Alfaro Rizo was responsible for the care of the child, who was less than 1 year old, on Oct. 29 while the parents were away at work. The complaint stated Alfaro Rizo was having problems with her own parents, so the family allowed her to stay with them and care for their children at certain times.

Madison police officers and firefighters/paramedics were called to the home, located in the 2200 block of Independence Lane, at 1:16 p.m. for a "pulseless non-breather."

When paramedics arrived, they found the baby "completely pale" and gave him chest compressions and rescue breaths, but he appeared completely non-responsive.

"Despite consistent lifesaving measures, MFD personnel advised they had not detected a pulse," the complaint stated. "MFD personnel commented how they were unable to establish an airway due to excessive water in the lungs."

The child was taken to the pediatric emergency room at a nearby hospital, where lifesaving measures continued. According to the complaint, the child never regained a pulse, and lifesaving efforts stopped at 2:06 p.m.

Alfaro Rizo told police she had put the baby into the bathtub and left him alone to go to the kitchen to prepare food. She said the baby was in the tub for "about 30 minutes" by himself. In another conversation with detectives, she said she left the baby by himself in the tub for "10 minutes at most." During that time, she said the bathwater was running.

Alfaro Rizo told police that while she was in the other room, she could hear the water running in the bathtub over the volume of a TV that another child was watching.

When she returned to the bathroom, she found the baby unresponsive. She told police she immediately picked him up and performed CPR for "maybe 10 minutes" before calling emergency services.

One officer noted that when he went into the bathroom for the first time, there was over 6 inches of water in the tub. The baby bath seat was on its side, dry and did not appear to have been used.

A downstairs neighbor later came upstairs, telling police that water was coming down into their unit from the unit above.

"It appeared as if the water had overflown out of the bathtub onto the floor, through the floor, and through the ceiling of the apartment directly beneath the call address," the complaint stated.

At an initial appearance on Thursday, the court gave her a $25,000 bond. She was also ordered to surrender her passport, and she cannot have contact with the victim's family nor anyone under the age of 5, if unsupervised. If released, she is not allowed to babysit.

Alfaro Rizo's preliminary hearing is scheduled for Nov. 7.

If convicted, she faces up to 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine.

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Digital Content Manager

Chad Thompson was hired as the Digital Content Manager at WKOWin July of 2023. Thompson came to southern Wisconsin from DesMoines, Iowa, where he worked as a Digital Editor at KCCI 8 News.He began his career in journalism as a reporter for a dailynewspaper in central Iowa. Download the27 New Now app and 27 Storm Track app here