Dad messages mother of his newborn ‘I messed up,’ then baby dies, AZ cops say
A 22-year-old dad texted the mother of his child “I messed up,” then their newborn daughter died weeks later, police in Arizona said.
Jonathon Enriquez of Gilbert was arrested Aug. 6 on charges of first-degree murder and abuse of a vulnerable adult/child, the Mesa Police Department said in a probable cause statement.
Weeks earlier, police and first responders received a 911 call at about 9 a.m. July 11 regarding a baby who was not breathing, authorities said in the document.
The caller said the child had been feeding, then choked, police said.
After authorities got to the home and the baby was taken to a hospital, Enriquez and the mother of the nearly 4-week-old newborn said “several differing accounts regarding the feeding event,” police said.
The parents said the child stopped breathing after she fell from a bed, police said. Then they said she fell from a car seat into a stroller the day before, police said.
Medical workers discovered the child had several severe injuries, including bruising on both eyes, broken ribs, broken legs, a fractured skull, brain bleeding and retinal hemorrhaging, police said.
She was in the hospital for 15 days before she died July 26, police said in the document.
After her death, it was discovered her head injury was catastrophic and “consistent with the infant being slammed, crushed or stomped,” police said.
Police said they learned the mother had left for work the morning of the incident at about 5 a.m.
At about 9 a.m. that morning, Enriquez messaged her she needed to come home because their baby wasn’t breathing, and he said “I messed up,” according to the probable cause statement.
But it wasn’t until his arrest on Aug. 6 that Enriquez told investigators he punched her in the face while she was in her bassinet, police said.
The baby had been “crying too much,” he told police, adding that he also previously squeezed the girl to try and stop her from crying.
Enriquez “expressed deep remorse for his actions,” police said.
He was booked into jail, and his bail was set at $1 million.
This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 3:26 PM with the headline "Dad messages mother of his newborn ‘I messed up,’ then baby dies, AZ cops say."
