Contributed Photo/Courtesy GCSO: Aaron Adrian Garza, 26, has been charged with three counts of child abuse regarding injuries he allegedly inflicted upon his 11-month-old son, Aaron Jordan “AJ” Garza, months before the boy died.
Posts $25,000 bond and is released from jail
By Jon Johnson
GRAHAM COUNTY – A man who prosecutors believe caused the death of his 11-month-old son has been released from jail after posting a $25,000 bond.
Aaron Adrian Garza, 26, was initially arrested Nov. 27 and was booked into the Graham County Adult Detention Facility for manslaughter and child abuse after the Graham County Sheriff’s Office reviewed autopsy results from the Pima County Office of Medical Examiner and interviewed him.
On Dec. 2, the Graham County Attorney’s Office filed a complaint against Garza and charged him with two counts of child abuse – recklessly causing physical injury, and another count of child abuse – intentionally/knowingly to cause physical injury. However, those charges do not stem from the manslaughter allegation but from a previous injury that resulted in the baby breaking his leg.
DCS reportedly previously investigated the family when the now-deceased child, Aaron Jordan “AJ” Garza, was just two months old after he was taken to the hospital with a fractured leg that the family reported had happened when Garza tripped while carrying him and fell on top of the infant. The Graham County Attorney’s Office investigated that case and has brought forth the three child abuse charges on it while it continues to investigate the homicide case.
In that incident, Garza originally said AJ had fallen out of his bouncer then amended it to say he tripped while carrying him and fell on him, which resulted in a spiral fracture of the infant’s leg. According to Safford Police reports, Garza said the baby began to scream after he fell on him so he put him in the bouncer and went back into his room. Roughly 30 minutes later while the baby was getting his diaper changed, Garza and the baby’s mother noticed AJ still had pain in his leg so they took him to the hospital where it was discovered the leg was broken.
Homicide case charges are pending. Those likely charges will stem from an investigation that began in the late evening hours of Friday, Nov. 15, when Graham County Dispatch received a phone call from a residence on S. Cheyenne Drive reporting an infant was not breathing but was gasping for air and possibly choking on a chip. The reporting party later advised that the infant stopped gasping entirely at 11:32 p.m.
AJ was transported to Mt. Graham Regional Medical Center shortly before midnight, where ER staff noticed that he showed signs of bruising and had head trauma, which ended up later being listed as a skull fracture.
AJ was then flown to Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, where he was kept on life support but was later declared brain dead at 5:55 a.m., on Nov. 18. He was then kept on life support until Nov. 20, so his body could be used for organ donation.
The Arizona Department of Child Safety (DCS) opened a case regarding the incident and placed AJ’s 22-month-old sister in a foster home on Nov. 16, and began a dependency case for her.
Garza posted a $25,000 bond after his bond was modified by Safford Justice of the Peace District 1 Judge Gary Griffith from $25,000 cash only to $25,000 paper or cash. Garza then posted bail and was released from jail on Saturday, Dec. 14. He is scheduled to have his preliminary hearing in front of Griffith on Jan. 15. The Graham County Attorney’s Office objected to the bond modification.
A preliminary hearing is used in Graham County instead of a grand jury to see if there is enough evidence to move the matter into Graham County Superior Court as the Justice Court only handles petty offenses and misdemeanors regarding criminal cases. Frequently, the defense waives the preliminary hearing and matters are then bound over to Superior Court for an initial appearance.
Homicide charges regarding the death of AJ are still pending.
