Couple accused of murdering adopted daughter

Associated Press

SAN ANTONIO — Two men have been arrested in connection with the death of their adopted daughter, who authorities say died in January of blunt force trauma.

Matthew Oscar Aranda, 43, was charged Wednesday with capital murder, and his partner, 44-year-old Norberto Velasquez, was charged with injury to a child by omission.

Their daughter, 3-year-old Melody Velasquez, died of head trauma Jan. 11. Investigators believe she was injured two days prior but the men waited 31 hours before seeking medical attention. By the time the paramedics were called, the girl had stopped breathing and had blood flowing from her nose and mouth.

Aranda told police that Melody fell while running down the stairs. He saw a bump on her head, and the couple gave her Tylenol and monitored her sleeping, according to court documents.

Even though she couldn’t swallow or walk the next day, they didn’t call 911 until Aranda saw her “taking in deep breaths,” according the arrest affidavit.

They were administering CPR when the ambulance arrived.

The girl had been removed from her birth parents when she was an infant because of abuse and neglect, said Child Protective Services spokeswoman Mary Walker. An October evaluation showed she had developmental delays.

She was placed with Aranda and Velasquez in January 2008, and her adoption was completed at the end of the year.

The couple has two other adopted children, a pair of 5-year-old boys. They and a 14-year-old foster son were removed from the home when Melody died.

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