Arrests made in death of 3-year-old girl

SAN ANTONIO – News 4 WOAI has learned 43-year-old Matthew Aranda and 44-year-old Norberto Velasquez were picked up Wednesday afternoon.

They were taken in for the death of 3-year-old Melody.

Aranda is accused of capital murder. His partner, Velasquez faces charges for not doing anything to protect the little girl.

During the initial investigation in January, the Bexar County Sheriff's office told News 4 WOAI the 3-year-old's parents said Melody fell down the stairs in their home off Hwy 151 on the Far West Side. They'd given her Tylenol and put her to bed.

BCSO Deputy Ino Badillo says, “They tried to wake her up all she wanted to do was sleep -- wouldn't wake up, didn't want to eat, had a fever of 103.”

They took her to Wilford Hall where she had a cardiac arrest and died. Both Aranda and Velasquez were taken to the magistrate's office on Wednesday.

The murder charge in this case took nearly four months to be filed. That's because a neuropathologist had to be brought in to review the dead girl’s autopsy. That doctor is specially trained to examine brain tissue to determine if a person died from natural causes or was killed.

Deputies had to wait for the doctor’s findings before the murder charges could be filed.