Foster Mom Arrested In Baby's Death

Son, 4-Year-Old Taken From Home

Jeff Jones

Albuquerque Journal

An Albuquerque foster mother has been arrested on suspicion of killing a 10-month-old boy she and her husband had been caring for, police and court records say.

Williette Ulmer, also known as Billie Jones, was booked into the Bernalillo County Detention Center late Friday night on a charge of child abuse resulting in death, Albuquerque Police Department Deputy Chief Sal Baragiola said on Saturday.

Baragiola said the Office of the Medical Investigator has determined that the baby, identified in court paperwork as Alexander Ganadonegro, died as a result of blunt trauma that ruptured his stomach.

A criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court said Ulmer, 29, was the only adult caring for Alexander "about the time of his death."

Baragiola said that according to the Office of the Medical Investigator, the ruptured stomach was the result of "a forceful blow" that "would have to be done by someone other than a child."

The criminal complaint added that a 4-year-old girl who is in foster care at Ulmer's home, as well as Ulmer's 9-year-old biological son, "disclosed past patterns of abuse" by Ulmer.

Ulmer maintains she did not strike Alexander, the complaint said. Her jail bond was set at $25,000, Baragiola said. She was released on bond, jail records showed Saturday.

Ulmer's husband, Jon Ulmer, called 911 Thursday morning after going into Alexander's bedroom, picking up a blanket covering the child and discovering blood flowing from the child's face, the criminal complaint said. Police who went to the Ulmer home on Grace NE found the child dead.

Baragiola said Alexander had recently been treated for pneumonia, and police initially believed that could have been a "contributing factor" in his death. But the Office of the Medical Investigator ruled the death was homicide.

Ulmer was caring for the children Wednesday night while her husband went to work, the criminal complaint said.

According to the complaint, Ulmer told police that Alexander cried out about 11:15 p.m. but "stopped fussing and fell back to sleep."

But the complaint said the 4-year-old girl at the home told police that Alexander was "crying last night and bleeding."

The girl, according to the complaint, also said that "Miss Billie" (Ulmer) put a blanket over Alexander's face when he cried. She also reportedly said that "Miss Billie" spanked the baby's hands with a pen or a comb to keep the baby from standing up in the crib and said "shut up" to the baby.

The Ulmers' son told police that his mother beats him and his 4-year-old foster sister with a belt, the criminal complaint said.

Alexander had been in foster care at the home since last August, Baragiola said. He said the other children are now in the custody of the state Children, Youth and Families Department.